0611-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 11 Jun 15, Thursday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
13. Spring’s counterpart : NEAP
Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the oceans. At neap tide, the smaller gravitational effect of the sun cancels out some of the moon’s effect. At spring tide, the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces act in concert causing more extreme movement of the oceans.

14. Harsh : ACERB
“Acerb” is a variant of “acerbic”, meaning sour or bitter-tasting, acidic.

16. One with special quarters: Abbr. : CAPT
I am guessing that the reference is to a captain’s quarters on a seagoing vessel.

18. *Kind of bass : LARGEMOUTH
The largemouth bass is a freshwater fish that isn’t a bass at all, but rather is a member of the sunfish family.

20. Last: Abbr. : ULT
Ultimate (ult.)

21. Man-eater : OGRE
An ogre is a monster of mythology and folktales that has the appearance of a man, and which eats human beings. The term “ogre” comes to us via French from the name of the Etruscan god Orcus, who feasted on the flesh of humans.

22. “Bewitched” husband : DARRIN
On the classic sitcom “Bewitched”, Samantha’s mortal husband Darrin Stephens was played originally by Dick York and later by Dick Sargent.

The delightful sitcom “Bewitched” originally ran on ABC from 1964 to 1972. The lead character in the show is Samantha Stephens, played by the lovely Elizabeth Montgomery. Elizabeth was the daughter of Hollywood star Robert Montgomery.

23. One of 13 popes : LEO
The first pope named Leo is now known as Pope Saint Leo the Great. Leo I is famous for meeting with the feared Attila the Hun and persuading him to turn back his invading force that was threatening to overrun Western Europe.

24. *Model of the Blues Brothers’ Bluesmobile : DODGE MONACO
In the 1980 movie “The Blues Brothers”, the title characters’ car was called the Bluesmobile. The vehicle was a 1974 Dodge Monaco, a decommissioned police car. There were 13 cars used for filming, and each of them were former police cars that had been purchased from the California Highway Patrol. The chase scenes in “The Blues Brothers” ate up 60 old police cars, giving the movie the world record at the time for cars destroyed in one movie.

26. ___ City, Long Island : GARDEN
Garden City is a village on Long Island, just under twenty miles east of midtown Manhattan. Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field in nearby East Garden City in 1927, starting his historic solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

35. Southwest hikers’ destination : MESA
The city of Mesa, Arizona is in effect a suburb of Phoenix. The original settlement of non-Native Americans was founded by Daniel Webster Jones who led a Mormon group from St. George, Utah. The settlement was first called Jonesville, then Fort Utah and eventually Lehi. A second group of Mormons arrived and formed a settlement on top of a nearby mesa. It was this use of a mesa that eventually gave the city its current name.

36. Cartoonist Bushmiller who created “Nancy” : ERNIE
The comics character Nancy first appeared a strip called “Fritzi Ritz” that had been created by Larry Whittington, which Ernie Bushmiller took over in 1925. Nancy debuted in “Fritzi Ritz” in 1933, and her great reception led to Bushmiller renaming the strip to “Nancy” in 1938. Nancy Ritz is Fritzi’s mischievous young niece.

37. “The Burning Giraffe,” e.g. : DALI
Salvador Dali’s 1937 painting called “The Burning Giraffe” features two blue female figures in the foreground, figures that Dali described as “tailbone women”. The “burning giraffe” is actually a figure in the background.

41. Myrmecophobe’s fear : ANTS
“Myrmeco-” is a combining form meaning “ant”, as in “myrmecophobe” meaning “‘someone afraid of ants, and “myrmecology” meaning “the study of ants”.

54. Out of date? : STAG
When a guy heads out to a party alone, he is said to be “going stag”.

56. Old Testament kingdom : SHEBA
Sheba is referenced in the Bible several times. The “Queen of Sheba” is mentioned as someone who traveled to Jerusalem to behold the fame of King Solomon. No one knows for sure where the kingdom of Sheba was located, although there is evidence that it was actually the ancient Semitic civilization of Saba. The Sabeans lived in what today is Yemen, on the Arabian Peninsula.

60. U.S. city that’s an anagram of a world capital : OREM
Orem, Utah was originally known as “Sharon” (a Biblical name), then “Provo Bench”, and in 1914 it was given the family name of a local railroad operator called “Orem”. Orem gave itself the nickname “Family City USA” and sure enough in 2010, “Forbes” rated Orem the 5th best place in the country to raise a family.

The Italian capital of Rome is known as “The Eternal City”, a name given by ancient Roman poets and writers.

Down
2. Reading material for the future? : TEA LEAVES
“Tasseography” is the name given to reading fortunes by interpreting the patterns of tea leaves, coffee grounds and wine sediments that are left in the bottom of a cup or glass.

4. Audiophile’s collection : LPS
Long play record (LP)

5. Brand of bath beads : CALGON
The Calgon brand was originally associated with a product that used up calcium ions in the water that inhibit the efficacy of soap. The name Calgon is derived from this effect, i.e. CAL-cium GON-e!!

6. Gift with a GIF, maybe : E-CARD
A bitmap is an image file format used to store digital images. Basically, each pixel in a bitmap file is stored as a “bit” of information, hence the name “bitmap”. In 1987, CompuServe introduced a new type of image file called the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). A GIF image takes the same information as a bitmap and then compresses it, resulting in a smaller file size. However, during compression the image may lose some resolution. The GIF format also handles short video clips, usually animations.

7. Libertarian’s aim, for short : DEREG
By definition, a “libertarian” is the antithesis of an “authoritarian”. The US Libertarian Party was founded in 1971, prompted in part by concerns about the Vietnam War and conscription.

8. Physics unit : ERG
An erg is a unit of energy or mechanical work. “Erg” comes from the Greek word “ergon” meaning “work”. A dyne is a unit of force. The name “dyne” comes from the Greek “dynamis” meaning “power, force”. Ergs and dynes are related to each other in that one erg is the amount of energy needed to move a force of one dyne over a distance of one centimeter.

10. Classic 1944 Otto Preminger film noir : LAURA
“Laura” is a 1944 film noir directed by Otto Preminger, starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. The film’s screenplay is based on a novel of the same name by Vera Caspary, first published in 1943. “Laura” is ranked highly in most critics’ list of favorite movies.

Otto Preminger was noted for his films that pushed the envelope in terms of subject matter, at least in the fifties and sixties. Great examples would be 1955’s “The Man with the Golden Arm” that dealt with drug addiction, 1959’s “Anatomy of a Murder” that dealt with rape, and 1962’s “Advise and Consent” that dealt with homosexuality. If you’ve seen these films, you’ll have noticed that the references are somewhat indirect and disguised, in order to get past the censors.

12. Prefix with biology : ETHNO-
Ethnobiology is the study of the relationship between plants and animals and the humans of different cultures. The emphasis is on the way animals and plants are treated by different human cultures.

19. Official New Zealand language besides English : MAORI
The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. The Māori are eastern Polynesian in origin and began arriving in New Zealand relatively recently, starting sometime in the late 13th century. The word “māori” simply means “normal”, distinguishing the mortal human being from spiritual entities.

30. Light splitter : PRISM
When light passes through a prism, it is split up (“disperses”) into differing wavelengths. It then becomes clear that white light is actually a mixture of different colors, which show up as beautiful spectra.

32. Wig wearer : BARRISTER
In a common law jurisdiction with a split legal profession, such as England, lawyers can be either solicitors or barristers. Someone needing legal help will retain a solicitor for that purpose. If a court trial is required, then that a barrister is retained to make representation before a judge and perhaps a jury. The barrister is the lawyer who wears the wig.

37. Palme ___ (top prize at Cannes) : D’OR
The “Palme d’Or” (or “Golden Palm” in English) is the highest award given at the Cannes Film Festival. The Palme d’Or goes to the director of the film selected as the best shown at the festival that year. The palm was selected as an emblem for the award as there is a palm featured on the coat of arms of the Commune of Cannes.

42. Hill’s partner in publishing : MCGRAW
The McGraw Publishing Company founded by James H. McGraw in 1899, and the Hill Publishing company founded by John A. Hill in 1902, formed an alliance in 1909 to establish the McGraw-Hill Book Company. The McGraw-Hill Publishing Company followed in 1917. I’ve always thought it a bit of a coincidence that there’s another McGraw-Hill publication alliance: married singers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, who have recorded (and “published”) several duets together.

43. Beef : GRIPE
A “beef” is a complaint or a grievance. It’s not quite clear how “beef” came to have this meaning, but one suggestion is that derives from the habit of soldiers at the end of the 1800s complaining about the quality or availability of beef in their rations.

44. Big name in real estate : RE/MAX
RE/MAX is an international real estate company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The name RE/MAX stands for “real estate maximum”, and the company’s logo is a hot air balloon with RE/MAX emblazoned on it.

47. Exercise with a portmanteau name : TAE BO
Tae Bo isn’t an ancient martial art, and rather was developed as a form of aerobic exercise in the 1990s. The discipline was introduced by taekwondo expert Billy Blanks who gave it the name Tae Bo, a melding of “taekwondo” and “boxing”.

54. Calif. air hub : SFO
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) serves as the main base of operations for Virgin America, and is also the maintenance hub for United Airlines. SFO was the site of a 2013 crash of an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 that resulted in three fatalities.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “___ pass” : IT’LL
5. Turn over : CEDE
9. Wound application : ALOE
13. Spring’s counterpart : NEAP
14. Harsh : ACERB
16. One with special quarters: Abbr. : CAPT
17. Standard work shifts : DAYS
18. *Kind of bass : LARGEMOUTH
20. Last: Abbr. : ULT
21. Man-eater : OGRE
22. “Bewitched” husband : DARRIN
23. One of 13 popes : LEO
24. *Model of the Blues Brothers’ Bluesmobile : DODGE MONACO
26. ___ City, Long Island : GARDEN
28. Ones catching some waves : EARS
29. Ties : EVENS
30. Series starter : PART I
32. “Harrumph!” : BAH!
35. Southwest hikers’ destination : MESA
36. Cartoonist Bushmiller who created “Nancy” : ERNIE
37. “The Burning Giraffe,” e.g. : DALI
38. Maximum ending? : -EST
39. Comment starting “By the way …” : ASIDE
40. Sphere : WORLD
41. Myrmecophobe’s fear : ANTS
42. Sullied : MARRED
43. *Opportunity for revenge : GRUDGE MATCH
48. “___ been had!” : I’VE
49. Consignment shop deal : RESALE
50. Dips : SAGS
51. Ungodliness : SIN
52. *Publicist, e.g. : IMAGEMAKER
54. Out of date? : STAG
55. One getting the message? : PAGE
56. Old Testament kingdom : SHEBA
57. Celebrate : FETE
58. Union busters? : EXES
59. Without interruption, after “in” : A ROW
60. U.S. city that’s an anagram of a world capital : OREM

Down
1. *”If I may …” : INDULGE ME …
2. Reading material for the future? : TEA LEAVES
3. Bury : LAY TO REST
4. Audiophile’s collection : LPS
5. Brand of bath beads : CALGON
6. Gift with a GIF, maybe : E-CARD
7. Libertarian’s aim, for short : DEREG
8. Physics unit : ERG
9. Squirrel’s cache : ACORNS
10. Classic 1944 Otto Preminger film noir : LAURA
11. Vision-related : OPTIC
12. Prefix with biology : ETHNO-
15. Spouse or lover : BEDMATE
19. Official New Zealand language besides English : MAORI
21. They may have kings as subjects : ODES
25. Unsettling, say : EERIE
27. Cold case solver, maybe : DNA
30. Light splitter : PRISM
31. Plus : AND
32. Wig wearer : BARRISTER
33. Ease : ALLEVIATE
34. Well-kept secret … or a hint to the answer to each starred clue : HIDDEN GEM
36. Treasures : ESTEEMS
37. Palme ___ (top prize at Cannes) : D’OR
39. Take : ANGLE
40. Muted trumpet sounds : WAHS
41. Bits of wisdom : ADAGES
42. Hill’s partner in publishing : MCGRAW
43. Beef : GRIPE
44. Big name in real estate : RE/MAX
45. Consumption : USAGE
46. Poser : ASKER
47. Exercise with a portmanteau name : TAE BO
53. Sudden understanding : AHA!
54. Calif. air hub : SFO

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