0607-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 7 Jun 15, Sunday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Samuel A. Donaldson
THEME: The Call of the Race … each of today’s themed answers is a phrase that might be heard when listening to the commentary for a horse race. Each phrase has been clued “inventively”, with reference to a horse with a “punny” name that relates to the specific answer:

22A. “And they’re off! Ace Detective has the ___!” : EARLY LEAD
An “ace” detective might get an early lead in a case.

28A. “Looks like Setting Sun is ___!” : FADING FAST
The setting sun’s light is fading quickly.

35A. “It’s Pariah ___!” : ON THE OUTSIDE
A “pariah” is someone on the outs, an outcast.

56A. “Chiropractor heads into the ___!” : BACKSTRETCH
A chiropractor might stretch a patient’s back.

64A. “Here’s where Mississippi Delta often ___!” : GAINS GROUND
The Mississippi Delta might gain ground, get bigger as silt is deposited.

75A. “Now Carrier Pigeon takes the ___!” : TURN FOR HOME
A carrier pigeon is a homing pigeon that has a message attached to its leg.

95A. “But wait! Amex Card ___!” : MAKES A CHARGE
One might charge a purchase to one’s American Express card.

101A. “Almost there, and E Pluribus Unum will be ___!” : IN THE MONEY
“E Pluribus Unum” is a Latin phrase used on coins in the US.

114A. “But the winner is … Inseam ___!” : BY A LENGTH
A tailor might measure the length of an inseam.

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 21m 00s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Shopping lines? : UPC
UPC stands for Universal Price Code or Universal Product Code. The first UPC-marked item to get scanned in a store was on June 26, 1974 at 08:01 a.m. at Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, Ohio. It was a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum …

24. The titular scarlet letter : RED A
Hester Prynne is the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter”. When Hester is convicted by her puritanical neighbors of the crime of adultery, she is forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her clothing for the rest of her life, hence the novel’s title, “The Scarlet Letter”.

25. Pennsylvania N.L.’ers : PHILS
Philadelphia’s baseball team was founded in 1883 as the Quakers, with the name changing to the Philadelphias and Phillies not long into the team’s history. The Phillies have been based in the same city using the same team name longer than any other team in US professional sports.

26. Dennis who fronted the 1960s-’70s Classics IV : YOST
Dennis Yost was the lead singer of the southern rock band Classics IV, which was formed in Jacksonville Florida in 1965. Yost fell down some stairs in 2006, which resulted in a serious brain injury and necessitated his retirement from the stage. He passed away just under three years later.

30. Purina product line : 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?

32. Scarf (down) : WOLF
“To scarf down” is teenage slang from the sixties meaning “to wolf down, to eat hastily”. The term is probably imitative of “to scoff”.

35. “It’s Pariah ___!” : ON THE OUTSIDE
“Pariah” is an anglicized version of the Tamil word “Paraiyar”. The Paraiyar are a social group of about 9 million people found in some Indian states and in Sri Lanka. The term “pariah” came to be a general term for members of the lowest caste in society, outcasts.

40. Associate : COHORT
A “cohort” can be used as a collective noun, meaning a group or company. The term can also apply to a company or associate. The term comes from the Latin “cohors”, which was an infantry company in the Roman army, one tenth of a legion.

43. Ink containers for squids : SACS
Octopuses and squid have the ability to release a dark pigment into the water as a means of escape. The dark pigment is called cephalopod ink (the squid and octopus belong to the class cephalopod). The dark color is created by melanin, the same substance that acts as a pigment in human skin.

44. Public venues : FORA
The Roman forum was the public space in the middle of a city, taking it’s name from the Latin word “forum” meaning “marketplace, town square”.

45. All alternative : ERA
Era was the first liquid laundry detergent produced by Procter & Gamble.

All is a laundry detergent produced by Sun Products.

48. Sleep: Prefix : SOMNI-
The prefix “somni-” indicates “sleep”, from the Latin “somnus” meaning “sleep, drowsiness”. Somnus was the personification of sleep from Roman mythology. The Greek equivalent was the god Hypnos.

49. Part of a Derby garland : ROSE
The first Kentucky Derby was run in 1875, and is a race modelled on the Epsom Derby in England and the Grand Prix de Paris (now called the “Prix de l‘Arc de Triomphe”). As such, The Kentucky Derby was run over 1½ miles, although in 1896 this was shortened to 1¼ miles. The winning horse is presented with a very elaborate blanket made of red roses.

50. Some peers : BARONS
In Britain, there are five ranks of peer, namely duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron, in descending order.

52. Abbr. after many a general’s name : RET
Retired (ret.)

53. Skill tested by Zener cards : ESP
Zener cards were developed in the early thirties by psychologist Karl Zener, for use in experiments related to extra-sensory perception (ESP). These five simple and distinctive cards replaced the standard deck of cards that had been used in trials up to that point. The five symbols used on the cards are a circle, a cross, three wavy lines, a square and a star.

56. “Chiropractor heads into the ___!” : BACKSTRETCH
Chiropractic is a type of alternative medicine that largely involves the adjustment of the spinal column. The term was coined in the US in the late 1800s and comes the Latinized Greek “chiro-” meaning “hand” and “praktikos” meaning “practical”.

60. N.Z. neighbor : AUST
Australia is the sixth-largest nation in the world (after Russia, Canada, China, the US and Brazil). The country’s name comes from the Latin “australis” meaning “southern”.

62. Maven : GURU
“Guru” is a Hindi word meaning “teacher” or “priest”.

I’ve always loved the word “maven”, another word for an expert. Maven comes into English from the Yiddish “meyvn” meaning someone who appreciates and is a connoisseur.

64. “Here’s where Mississippi Delta often ___!” : GAINS GROUND
A river delta is a triangular landform at the mouth of a river created by the deposition of sediment. The most famous “delta” in the United States isn’t actually a delta at all. The Mississippi Delta is an alluvial plain that lies 300 miles north of the river’s actual delta, which is known as the Mississippi River Delta. Very confusing …

70. Tara’s owner : O’HARA
Rhett Butler hung out with Scarlett O’Hara at the Tara plantation in Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”. Tara was founded not far from the Georgia city of Jonesboro by Scarlett’s father, Irish immigrant Gerald O’Hara. Gerald named his new abode after the Hill of Tara back in his home country, the ancient seat of the High King of Ireland.

72. Locale of Ada and Enid: Abbr. : OKLA
Back in 1889, Jeff Reed was hired to carry the mail between the two communities of Stonewall and Center in what was then called the Indian Territory. Reed had moved to the area from Texas and he bought some land in between the two limits of his mail route and built himself a log cabin. Pretty soon other settlers built homes nearby and in 1891 the settlement got its own post office. As postman, Reed got to name the new post office and he called it Ada, after his oldest daughter. Ada is now a county seat and has over 17,000 residents. One of the sons of the city of Ada was the televangelist Oral Roberts.

Enid, Oklahoma takes its name from the old railroad station around which the city developed. Back in 1889, that train stop was called Skeleton Station. An official who didn’t like the name changed it to Enid Station, using a character from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”. Maybe if he hadn’t changed the name, the city of Enid would now be called Skeleton, Oklahoma! Enid has the nickname “Queen Wheat City” because is has a huge capacity for storing grain, the third largest grain storage capacity in the world.

73. Spelling practice? : VOODOO
Voodoo is a religion that originated the French slave colony of Saint-Domingue on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

75. “Now Carrier Pigeon takes the ___!” : TURN FOR HOME
Usually, carrier pigeons are used to transport messages “home”, in one direction, after having been transported manually away from home. However, pigeons have been trained to fly back in forth between two locations. One is “home”, where the pigeons sleep, and the other is where the pigeons are fed.

79. Invasive Southern plant : KUDZU
Kudzu is a climbing vine that is native to southern Japan and southeast China. “Kudzu” is derived from the Japanese name for the plant, “kuzu”. Kudzu is a vigorously growing weed that chokes other plants by climbing all over them and shielding them from light. Kudzu was brought to the US from Asia for the Japanese pavilion in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. It was marketed as an ornamental, especially in the southeast of the country, and now is all over the region. Kudzu earned itself the nickname “the vine that ate the South”.

80. Child’s medicine dose, often: Abbr. : TSP
Teaspoon (tsp.)

84. Essential amino acid : LYSINE
Lysine is an essential amino acid for humans, meaning that we must absorb it from our food. Lysine is readily available in eggs and red meat, as well as beans and peas.

86. Words after “tough row” : TO HOE
The idiom “a tough row to hoe” is sometimes misused as “a tough road to hoe”. The phrase is probably a farming expression, and is American in origin.

89. Verb with “vous” : ETES
In French, we are (nous sommes), you are (vous êtes), they are (ils/elles sont).

90. Hobbes’s favorite food in “Calvin and Hobbes” : TUNA
The comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” is still widely syndicated, but hasn’t been written since 1995. The cartoonist Bill Watterson named the character Calvin after John Calvin, the 16th century theologian. Hobbes was named for Thomas Hobbes a 17th century English political philosopher.

92. Calculator that doesn’t shut off : ABACUS
The abacus (plural “abaci”) was used as a counting frame long before man had invented a numbering system. It is a remarkable invention, particularly when one notes that abaci are still widely used today across Africa and Asia.

95. “But wait! Amex Card ___!” : MAKES A CHARGE
Amex is short for American Express. In dollar terms, there are more transactions conducted in the US using the Amex card than any other card.

99. Rockies ski resort : VAIL
The Vail Ski Resort in Colorado is the largest single-mountain ski resort in the whole country. The resort was opened in 1962, basically in the middle of nowhere. It was given the name Vail after Vail Pass which runs by the mountain (now also called Vail Mountain). The town of Vail, Colorado was established four years later in 1966, and now has a population of about 5,000.

100. Hershey brand : SKOR
Skor is a candy bar produced by Hershey’s. Skor is sold in Canada as Rutnam.

101. “Almost there, and E Pluribus Unum will be ___!” : IN THE MONEY
From 1776, “E pluribus unum” was the unofficial motto of the United States. “E pluribus unum” is Latin for “Out of many, one”. It was pushed aside in 1956 when an Act of Congress designated “In God We Trust” as the country’s official motto.

104. River islands : AITS
Aits are little islands found in a river. Aits aren’t formed by erosion, but by the deposition of silt over time. As a result, aits often have a long and narrow shape running parallel to the banks as the sediment builds up with the flow of the water. Many of the islands in the River Thames in England have been given the name “Ait”, like Raven’s Ait in Kingston-upon-Thames, and Lot’s Ait in Brentford.

107. “Twelfth Night” woman : VIOLA
Viola is the main character in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”. Viola is shipwrecked at the beginning of the play in a land ruled by the Duke Orsino. Viola disguises herself as a boy and works for Orsino as a page, and complications ensue …

112. Moon of Uranus : OBERON
All of the twenty-seven moons of the planet Uranus are named for characters from literature, characters created by William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. The five major moons are so large that they would be considered planets in their own right if they were orbiting the sun directly. The names of these five moons are:

– Miranda (from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”)
– Ariel (from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock”)
– Umbriel (from Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock”)
– Titania (from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”)
– Oberon (from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”)

114. “But the winner is … Inseam ___!” : BY A LENGTH
Here’s another term that I had to learn when I came to the US. The “inseam” is the seam of a pair of pants running from the bottom of the crotch to the lower ankle. Instead taking inseam measurements back in Ireland, a tailor measures the “inside leg”.

116. Where Luang Prabang is : LAOS
Luang Prabang is a city in north central Laos that is well known for having many Buddhist temples and monasteries. The name “Luang Prabang” translates as “Royal Buddha Image”.

117. The “little blue pill” : VIAGRA
Viagra is a trade name for the drug sildenafil citrate that is used primarily to treat erectile dysfunction. The drug was developed in the UK by Pfizer as a treatment for high blood pressure and angina, but the clinical trials showed that it induced penile erections. A decision was made to change the intended market of the drug and in 1998 it became the first orally-taken medication approved by the FDA for erectile dysfunction.

118. Noted Moscow opening of 1990 : MCDONALD’S
When McDonald’s opened its first outlet in Moscow in 1990, a crowd of 5,000 people attended the event, and the restaurant served over 30,000 patrons that first day. Some customers stood in line for over six hours to sample the fare.

119. Part of GPS: Abbr. : SYST
Global Positioning System (GPS)

121. Member of the 600 home run club : SOSA
Sammy Sosa was firmly in the public eye in 1998 when he and Mark McGwire were vying to be the first to surpass the home run record held by Roger Maris. McGwire fell out of public favor due to stories of steroid abuse (stories which he later admitted were true) while Sosa fell out of favor when he was found to be using a corked bat in a 2003 game.

122. His or her, to Henri : SES
“Ses” is the French word for “his”, “her” or “its”, when referring to a group of items.

Down
1. Deseret, today : UTAH
When Mormon pioneers were settling what is today the state of Utah, they referred to the area as Deseret, a word that means “beehive” according to the Book of Mormon. Today Utah is known as the Beehive State and there is a beehive symbol on the Utah state flag.

2. Gilpin of “Frasier” : PERI
Roz Doyle is a character in the wonderful sitcom “Frasier”. Roz is played, very ably, by the actress Peri Gilpin.

3. Dirty Harry’s surname : CALLAHAN
“Dirty” Harry Callahan was the protagonist in a series of five movies starring Clint Eastwood:

– “Dirty Harry” (1971)
– “Magnum Force” (1973)
– “The Enforcer” (1976)
– “Sudden Impact” (1983)
– “The Dead Pool” (1988)

6. Aoki of the World Golf Hall of Fame : ISAO
Isao Aoki is one of Japan’s greatest golfers, now playing on the senior circuit. Aoki’s best finish in a major tournament was runner-up to Jack Nicklaus in the 1980 US Open.

8. Supermarket chain : IGA
IGA stands for Independent Grocers Alliance, a chain of supermarkets that extends right around the world. IGA’s headquarters is in Chicago. The company uses the slogan “Hometown Proud Supermarkets”.

10. Rice dish cooked in broth : PILAF
“Pilaf” is a Persian word, and we use it to describe rice that is browned in oil and then cooked in a seasoned broth.

11. Barely : A TAD
Back in the 1800s “tad” was used to describe a young child, and this morphed into our usage of “small amount” in the early 1900s. The original use of “tad” for a child is very likely a shortened version of “tadpole”.

12. Sleeveless undergarment, for short : CAMI
A camisole (also “cami”) is a sleeveless undergarment worn by women that extends down to the waist. “Camisole” is a French word that we imported into English, which ultimately derives from the Latin “camisia” meaning “shirt, nightgown”.

14. One in the pipeline? : SURFER
The Banzai Pipeline is an area where the waves start to break off Ehukai Beach on Oahu’s North Shore. The spot was given its name in 1961 by a movie producer filming surfers. At that time there was an underground pipeline being constructed nearby, so the producer named the surf reef break “Pipeline”. The “Banzai” was added to the name in honor of Banzai Beach, where the waves comes ashore.

18. Patriot Day’s mo. : SEP
Patriot Day has been held on September 11th annually since 2002, after President George W. Bush declared Friday September 14, 2001 a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001.

19. Ones having a rough spell? : DYSLEXICS
The term “dyslexia” comes from the Greek “dys-” meaning “bad” and “lexis” meaning “word”.

27. How the careful think : TWICE
Think twice before acting.

29. Mop & ___ : GLO
Mop & Glo is brand of floor cleaner and polish.

31. “Annabel Lee” poet : POE
“Annabel Lee” was the last complete poem written by Edgar Allan Poe. The opening lines are:
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea.

33. Takes too much, briefly : ODS
Overdoses (ODs)

35. Seine tributary : OISE
The River Oise rises in Belgium and joins up with the River Seine just outside Paris.

36. Sgts. and cpls. : NCOS
An NCO is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces. Usually such an officer is one who has earned his or her rank by promotion through the enlisted ranks. A good example would be a sergeant.

37. Cracker Jack prizes that leave a mark : TEMPORARY TATTOOS
Cracker Jack snack food was introduced to the public at the 1893 Chicago World Fair. It didn’t get the name “Cracker Jack” until a few years later when someone declared to the producers that the candied snack was “crackerjack!”. Prizes were introduced into each box starting in 1912. The list of toy surprises included rings, plastic figurines, temporary tattoos and decoder rings.

38. 2005 South African drama that won a Best Foreign Film Oscar : TSOTSI
The 2005 film “Tsotsi” is an adaptation of a novel of the same name by South African writer Athol Fugard. The movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2005.

41. Suit in a Spanish card deck : OROS
The four suits in a deck of Spanish playing cards are:

– bastos (clubs)
– oros (golds, golden coins)
– copas (cups)
– espadas (swords)

44. De ___ (actual) : FACTO
Conceptually, “de jure” and “de facto” are related terms, one meaning “concerning, according to law”, and the other meaning “concerning, according to fact”. There is an example of the use of the two terms together from my homeland of Ireland. According to our constitution, Irish is the first language of the country, and yet almost everyone in the country uses English as his or her first language. One might say that Irish is the de jure first language, but English is the first language de facto.

47. Eldest of the Three Musketeers : ATHOS
Alexandre Dumas’ “Three Musketeers” are Athos, Porthos and Aramis, and their young protégé is D’Artagnan. A musketeer was an infantry soldier who was equipped with a musket. Funnily enough, the three “musketeers” really don’t use their muskets, and are better known for their prowess with their swords.

49. Bonheur who painted “The Horse Fair” : ROSA
Rosa Bonheur was a painter and sculptor from France who was noted for her works that featured animals as subjects. Bonheurs two most-famous works are “Ploughing in the Nivernais” depicting a team of oxen, and “The Horse Fair”, depicting some spirited horses.

50. Arab city whose name is an anagram of ARABS : BASRA
It’s quite a coincidence that the Iraqi city of Basra has a name that is an anagram of “Arabs”, isn’t it? Basra also features in the H. G. Wells science-fiction tale “The Shape of Things to Come”. Written in 1933, the storyline predicts a global conflict (WWII) that breaks out in 1940 lasting for ten years, after which chaos reigns as no victor emerges. Following worldwide plague, a benevolent dictatorship takes charge and the world moves towards a serene utopia. In time, the dictators are overthrown and peacefully retired, and the people of the Earth live happily ever after, all citizens of one global state with its capital in Basra in the Middle East.

51. Mrs., in Madrid : SRA
Madrid is the largest city in Spain and the capital. Madrid is located very close to the geographical center of the country. It is the third-largest city in the European Union (after London and Paris). People from Madrid called themselves Madrileños.

57. Foxtrot preceder : ECHO
The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. It goes Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … Zulu.

60. Words on a docent’s badge : ASK ME
Museum docents are people who serve as guides for visitors to their institutions, usually providing their services for free. The term “docent” comes from the Latin “docere” meaning “to teach”.

63. Kirk’s partner in a groundbreaking 1968 interracial kiss : UHURA
Lt. Nyota Uhura is the communications officer in the original “Star Trek” television series, played by Nichelle Nichols. The role is significant in that Uhura was one of the first African American characters to figure front and center in US television. In a 1968 episode, Kirk (played by William Shatner) and Uhura kiss, the first inter-racial kiss to be broadcast in the US. Apparently the scene was meant to be shot twice, with and without the kiss, so that network executives could later decide which version to air. William Shatner says that he deliberately ran long on the first shoot (with the kiss) and fluffed the hurried second shoot (without the kiss), so that the network would have no choice.

65. Middays : NOONS
Our word “noon”, meaning “midday”, comes from the Latin “nona hora” that translates as “ninth hour”. Back in Ancient Rome, the “ninth hour” was three in the afternoon. Over the centuries, traditions such as church prayers and “midday” meals shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and so “noon” became understood as 12 noon.

66. Anatomical danglers : UVULAS
The uvula is that conical fleshy projection hanging down at the back of the soft palate. The uvula plays an important role in human speech, particularly in the making of “guttural” sounds. The Latin word for “grape” is “uva”, so “uvula” is a “little grape”.

68. Bagel shop amt. : DOZ
Our word “dozen” is used for a group of twelve. We imported it into English from Old French. The modern French word for twelve is “douze”, and a dozen is “douzaine”.

71. C.I.O. partner : AFL
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded in 1886, making it one of the first federations of unions in the country. Over time the AFL became dominated by craft unions, unions representing skilled workers of particular disciplines. In the early thirties, John L. Lewis led a movement within the AFL to organize workers by industry, believing this would be more effective for the members. But the craft unions refused to budge, so Lewis set up a rival federation of unions in 1932, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The two federations became bitter rivals for over two decades until finally merging in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO.

74. Thick-walled pot : DUTCH OVEN
A Dutch oven is a cooking pot with a tight lid, usually made from cast-iron. Back in Ireland we call them casserole dishes.

76. 1971 top 20 hit with no English lyrics : OYE COMO VA
“Oye Como Va” is a song written by Tito Puente in 1963. The best-known recording is the cover version from Santana released in 1970.

79. He died at Xanadu : KANE
In the 1941 film “Citizen Kane”, the newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane builds himself an immense and opulent estate on the Florida coast called Xanadu. Xanadu boasts a Venetian-style canal, complete with gondolas, and a well-stocked zoo. There is also a championship golf course. The estate was inspired by Hearst Castle, the California mansion owned by William Randolph Hearst.

82. N.F.L. coach Carroll : PETE
Pete Carroll is a former head coach for the New York Jets and the New England Patriots, and now has the same position with the Seattle Seahawks. Carroll is also a “Deadhead”, an avid fan of the Grateful Dead.

85. Ollie’s partner on old children’s TV : KUKLA
“Kukla, Fran and Ollie” is an early television show that aired from 1947-1957. Kukla and Ollie (Oliver J. Dragon) were puppets and Fran was Fran Allison, usually the only human on the show.

87. Simple wind instruments : OCARINAS
An ocarina is an ancient wind-instrument that sounds like and is played like a flute. Usually an ocarina has an egg-shaped body with a number of finger holes cut into the material making up the instrument (usually ceramic). There is a tube protruding from the body through which one blows to make sounds. The air vibrates within the body of the instrument, and the pitch of the vibrations is changed by covering and uncovering the finger-holes. Ocarinas date back as far as 12,000 years ago when they were used both in China and Central America. The ocarina was brought to Italy in the 1800s where it became popular as a child’s toy, but also as a serious instrument. It was given the name “ocarina” as its shape resembles that of a goose, and “ocarina”is a diminutive word stemming from “oca”, the Italian word for “goose”.

90. Skater Babilonia : TAI
Tai Babilonia is a retired figure skater, long time partner of Randy Gardner. The pair started skating together when she was just eight years old, and stayed together until she was 49, retiring in 2008. Babilonia was engaged to the comedian David Brenner, but he passed away in 2014 before they could get married.

94. Bad “Wheel of Fortune” buy for SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY : AN E
When trying to guess the phrase “SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY” on the game show ‘Wheel of Fortune”, there’s no point in “buying an E”.

95. Key presenters : MAYORS
Here in the US, an esteemed visitor might be presented with the “Key to the City” by the city’s mayor. The equivalent tradition in Britain and Ireland is the presentation of the Freedom of the City.

96. Syrian ruling family : ASSADS
Dr. Bashar al-Assad is the current President of the Syrian Arab Republic and the son of the former President Hafez al-Assad whom he replaced in 2001. President Assad is a medical doctor, speaks fluent English and conversational French. Assad was studying ophthalmology in London when he met his wife, who is an Englishwoman.

97. Apothecary items : VIALS
Nowadays, we would call an apothecary a pharmacist. “Apotecaire” is an Old French word from the 13th century meaning simply “storekeeper”.

98. Bit of dental repair : ONLAY
“Inlay” is another word for a filling in dentistry. An “onlay” is similar to an inlay. An onlay not only fills a hole in the tooth but it is also built up to replace a missing cusp. It’s sort of halfway between a filling and a crown, I suppose.

102. Life lines? : OBIT
“Obituary” comes from the Latin “obituaris”, originally the record of the death of a person, although the literal meaning is “pertaining to death”.

105. Some old PCs : IBMS
The original IBM Personal Computer is model number 5150, which was introduced to the world on August 12, 1981. The term “personal computer” was already in use, but the success of the IBM 5150 led to the term “PC” being used for all computer products compatible with the IBM platform.

106. Mattel subsidiary that got its start in model trains : TYCO
The Tyco brand of toys was founded in 1926 as Mantua Metal Products by John Tyler. The first products made were scale model trains using die-cast metal. The company introduced the Tyco brand in the fifties, with “Tyco” standing for “Tyler Company”.

Mattel is the world’s largest toy manufacturer. Mattel was founded by Harold “Matt” Matson and Elliot Handler in 1945, and they chose the company name by combining “Matt” with “El-liot” giving “Matt-el”.

109. Old Fords : LTDS
There has been a lot of speculation about what the abbreviation LTD stands for in the car model known as “Ford LTD”. Many say it is an initialism standing for Luxury Trim Decor, and others say that it is short for “limited”. Although the car was produced in Australia with the initialism meaning Lincoln Type Design, it seems LTD was originally chosen as just three meaningless letters that sound well together.

113. “The Confessions of ___ Turner” (1967 Pulitzer-winning novel) : NAT
The Confessions of Nat Turner is a 1976 novel by William Styron.

Nat Turner was a slave in Virginia who led a slave rebellion in 1831 that led to the deaths of over a hundred people. Half of the casualties were white,and half were black. The 55 white deaths took place on the day of the rebellion as a growing mob of slaves traveled from house-to-house freeing fellow slaves but also killing any white people they came across; men, women and children. The rebellion was suppressed within two days by a white militia. Slaves involved in the rebellion were tried for insurrection and related crimes, and a total of 56 blacks were executed on suspicion of involvement in the uprising. In the aftermath, life for slaves became even more difficult as any freedoms that they had earned were largely curtailed.

115. Long, on Lanai : LOA
Mauna Loa on the “big island” of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Shopping lines? : UPC
4. Without warranty : AS IS
8. Collision : IMPACT
14. Rolls out the green carpet? : SODS
18. Most balanced : STEADIEST
20. Band member with a long neck : GUITAR
21. Curriculum component : UNIT
22. “And they’re off! Ace Detective has the ___!” : EARLY LEAD
23. On fire : AFLAME
24. The titular scarlet letter : RED A
25. Pennsylvania N.L.’ers : PHILS
26. Dennis who fronted the 1960s-’70s Classics IV : YOST
28. “Looks like Setting Sun is ___!” : FADING FAST
30. Purina product line : ALPO
32. Scarf (down) : WOLF
34. Fissures : CLEFTS
35. “It’s Pariah ___!” : ON THE OUTSIDE
40. Associate : COHORT
42. Tool made to scale : ICE AXE
43. Ink containers for squids : SACS
44. Public venues : FORA
45. All alternative : ERA
48. Sleep: Prefix : SOMNI-
49. Part of a Derby garland : ROSE
50. Some peers : BARONS
52. Abbr. after many a general’s name : RET
53. Skill tested by Zener cards : ESP
54. Rag : CLOTH
56. “Chiropractor heads into the ___!” : BACKSTRETCH
58. Fixate (on) : OBSESS
60. N.Z. neighbor : AUST
61. Sound you can’t make in your sleep : ACHOO!
62. Maven : GURU
64. “Here’s where Mississippi Delta often ___!” : GAINS GROUND
69. They tend to brood : HENS
70. Tara’s owner : O’HARA
72. Locale of Ada and Enid: Abbr. : OKLA
73. Spelling practice? : VOODOO
75. “Now Carrier Pigeon takes the ___!” : TURN FOR HOME
79. Invasive Southern plant : KUDZU
80. Child’s medicine dose, often: Abbr. : TSP
83. Tax : TRY
84. Essential amino acid : LYSINE
85. Leafy vegetable : KALE
86. Words after “tough row” : TO HOE
88. Feedbag grain : OAT
89. Verb with “vous” : ETES
90. Hobbes’s favorite food in “Calvin and Hobbes” : TUNA
91. Evidence of one’s upbringing : ACCENT
92. Calculator that doesn’t shut off : ABACUS
95. “But wait! Amex Card ___!” : MAKES A CHARGE
97. Show one’s disapproval : VOTE NO
99. Rockies ski resort : VAIL
100. Hershey brand : SKOR
101. “Almost there, and E Pluribus Unum will be ___!” : IN THE MONEY
104. River islands : AITS
107. “Twelfth Night” woman : VIOLA
111. Remedy for a 59-Down : ALOE
112. Moon of Uranus : OBERON
114. “But the winner is … Inseam ___!” : BY A LENGTH
116. Where Luang Prabang is : LAOS
117. The “little blue pill” : VIAGRA
118. Noted Moscow opening of 1990 : MCDONALD’S
119. Part of GPS: Abbr. : SYST
120. Stationary : AT REST
121. Member of the 600 home run club : SOSA
122. His or her, to Henri : SES

Down
1. Deseret, today : UTAH
2. Gilpin of “Frasier” : PERI
3. Dirty Harry’s surname : CALLAHAN
4. Have a bug, maybe : AIL
5. “Bye for now” : SEE YOU
6. Aoki of the World Golf Hall of Fame : ISAO
7. Regs. : STDS
8. Supermarket chain : IGA
9. Smother, as sound : MUFFLE
10. Rice dish cooked in broth : PILAF
11. Barely : A TAD
12. Sleeveless undergarment, for short : CAMI
13. Penetrating : TRENCHANT
14. One in the pipeline? : SURFER
15. In succession : ONE AFTER THE OTHER
16. Carried out, biblically : DIDST
17. Top-three finishes and total earnings, in horse racing : STATS
18. Patriot Day’s mo. : SEP
19. Ones having a rough spell? : DYSLEXICS
27. How the careful think : TWICE
29. Mop & ___ : GLO
31. “Annabel Lee” poet : POE
33. Takes too much, briefly : ODS
35. Seine tributary : OISE
36. Sgts. and cpls. : NCOS
37. Cracker Jack prizes that leave a mark : TEMPORARY TATTOOS
38. 2005 South African drama that won a Best Foreign Film Oscar : TSOTSI
39. Pageant accessory : SASH
40. It’s often at the end of a bottleneck : CORK
41. Suit in a Spanish card deck : OROS
44. De ___ (actual) : FACTO
46. Intel mission : RECON
47. Eldest of the Three Musketeers : ATHOS
49. Bonheur who painted “The Horse Fair” : ROSA
50. Arab city whose name is an anagram of ARABS : BASRA
51. Mrs., in Madrid : SRA
55. Race segment : LEG
56. Base brass : BUGLE
57. Foxtrot preceder : ECHO
59. Scald, e.g. : BURN
60. Words on a docent’s badge : ASK ME
62. Reached : GOT TO
63. Kirk’s partner in a groundbreaking 1968 interracial kiss : UHURA
65. Middays : NOONS
66. Anatomical danglers : UVULAS
67. Anatomical mass : NODE
68. Bagel shop amt. : DOZ
71. C.I.O. partner : AFL
74. Thick-walled pot : DUTCH OVEN
76. 1971 top 20 hit with no English lyrics : OYE COMO VA
77. VW forerunners? : RSTU
78. Rushes : HIES
79. He died at Xanadu : KANE
81. Record number? : SONG
82. N.F.L. coach Carroll : PETE
85. Ollie’s partner on old children’s TV : KUKLA
87. Simple wind instruments : OCARINAS
90. Skater Babilonia : TAI
91. Comics “Oh no!” : ACK!
93. Bidding : BEHEST
94. Bad “Wheel of Fortune” buy for SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY : AN E
95. Key presenters : MAYORS
96. Syrian ruling family : ASSADS
97. Apothecary items : VIALS
98. Bit of dental repair : ONLAY
99. Brink : VERGE
102. Life lines? : OBIT
103. At hand : NEAR
105. Some old PCs : IBMS
106. Mattel subsidiary that got its start in model trains : TYCO
108. Creepy look : OGLE
109. Old Fords : LTDS
110. Checkup sounds : AHS
113. “The Confessions of ___ Turner” (1967 Pulitzer-winning novel) : NAT
115. Long, on Lanai : LOA

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2 thoughts on “0607-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 7 Jun 15, Sunday”

  1. As usual, Bill cut my time in half. But it was enjoyable to work on today. This grid came out on the Sunday of the Belmont Stakes. In case you missed the race, see here.

    I don't worry about SOSA and the corked bat. It's the roids. In the 80s, Greg Nettles of the Yankees used to stuff his bat with super-balls. His bat splintered one day, and he later joked he was the only player to ground out to first, second, and third.

  2. I wrote in an "H" to get ACH/SHOR, knew there was something wrong with it, but couldn't come up with the correct letter to fix it. Stupid me … :-). On to Monday!

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