Day: July 22, 2015

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
5. Johnny Carson’s Carnac the Magnificent, e.g. : SEER
Carnac the Magnificent was a character played by Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show”, a mystic soothsayer. Carson introduced Carnac in 1964.

9. 1972 Olympics sensation Mark : SPITZ
Mark Spitz is a retired competitive swimmer, famously the winner of seven gold medals for the US at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Spitz was only 22 years of age right after the 1972 Games, at which point he retired from competition. Having said that, Spitz briefly came out of retirement in 1992 and tried for a place in the US team for the Barcelona Olympics at the age of 41. Unfortunately he couldn’t make the grade.

14. Linear, in brief : ONE-D
The dimension of an object is defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify each point in the object. Therefore a line is one-dimensional, as you only need an x-coordinate to specify a particular point on the line. A surface is two-dimensional, as you need both an x-coordinate and a y-coordinate to locate a point on the surface. The inside of a solid object is then three-dimensional, needing an x-, y- and z-coordinate to specify a point, say within a cube.

15. Buckshot and such : AMMO
The word “munitions” describes materials and equipment used in war. The term derives from the Latin “munitionem” meaning “fortification, defensive wall”. Back in the 17th century, French soldiers referred to such materials as “la munition”, a Middle French term. This was misheard as “l’ammunition”, and as a result we ended up importing the word “ammunition” (often shortened to “ammo”), a term that we now use mainly to describe the material fired from a weapon.

16. Painter Matisse : HENRI
Henri Matisse was a French artist renowned for his contribution to modern art. In his early career, Matisse was classed as a “fauve”, one of the group of artists known as the “wild beasts” who emphasized strong color over realism in their works. He was a lifelong friend of Pablo Picasso, and the two were considered to be good-natured rivals so their works are often compared. One major difference between their individual portfolios is that Picasso tended to paint from his imagination, whereas Matisse tended to use nature as his inspiration.

17. Carpet choice : SHAG
Shag carpet is one with a deep pile, one with a “shaggy” appearance.

20. Lex Luthor, notably : SUPERVILLAIN
Lex Luthor is the arch-nemesis of Superman in comics. Luthor has been portrayed in a number of guises in the comic world as well in movies and on the small screen. For example, he appeared as Atom Man in the 1950 film series “Atom Man vs. Superman”, and was played by actor Lyle Talbot, opposite Kirk Alyn’s Superman.

23. “I’d say,” in texts : IMO
In my opinion (IMO)

24. I.S.P. that bought CompuServe : AOL
CompuServe was the predominant online service in the 1980s, and indeed the first such service in the US. I was a big CompuServe user back in the day …

25. Nonverbal communication, for short : ASL
It’s really quite unfortunate that American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) are very different, and someone who has learned to sign in one cannot understand someone signing in the other.

29. Busters? : NARCS
“Narc” is a slang term for a law enforcement officer who tracks down criminals associated illegal drugs.

31. High-end tailoring area in London : SAVILE ROW
Savile Row is a street in central London that is home to many prestigious men’s tailors.

37. Prince Harry’s aunt : ANNE
Anne, Princess Royal was born in 1950 and is the only daughter of British Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Anne has been in the public spotlight for many things, including her success as an equestrian. Princess Anne was the first member of the British Royal Family to have competed in an Olympic Games. Her daughter Zara Phillips continued the tradition and competed as a member of the British equestrian team in the 2012 Olympic Games. Zara’s medal was presented to her by her own mother, Princess Anne.

Prince William is second in line to the British throne, after his father Prince Charles, with Prince Harry holding the third spot. Prince Harry moved down the list when William and Kate had their first child George. The law was changed in 2011 so that the oldest child of Prince William and Kate Middleton would be next in line, regardless of sex. Up until 2011, sons took precedence, even over older daughters.

41. Neck ridge : FRET
A fret is a metal strip embedded in the neck of a stringed instrument, like a guitar perhaps. The fingers press on the frets, shortening a string and hence changing the note played. The note increases by one semitone as a finger shortens a string by one fret.

49. Tropicana Field team renamed in 2008 : DEVIL RAYS
The Tampa Bay Rays are a relatively “young” franchise, being formed in 1998. The initial name of the franchise was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. While known as the Devil Rays, the team finished last in the league in almost every year. The name was changed to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, and I am told the Rays started into a streak of winning seasons soon after.

54. Hyman Rickover’s rank: Abbr. : ADM
Hyman G. Rickover was a four-star admiral in the US Navy. Rickover is known as the “Father of the Nuclear Navy” as he promoted and led the development of the use of nuclear reactors for marine propulsion.

57. ___ Air (Taiwanese carrier) : EVA
EVA Airlines is an international airline based Taipei, Taiwan that was founded in 1989. The intended name for the company was Evergreen Airways, but this was changed to EVA to avoid a potential conflict with another business.

58. What’s found on some canapés (and hiding in the answers to 20-, 31-, 38- and 49-Across?) : CHOPPED LIVER
A canapé is a finger food, usually small enough to eat in just one bite. In French, “canapé” is actually the word for a couch or a sofa. The name was given to the snack as the original “canapés” were savories served on toasted or stale bread that supposedly resembled a tiny “couch”.

61. 1998 and 2005 role for Banderas : ZORRO
The character Zorro was created by Johnston McCulley in 1919 for a series of stories and pulp fiction. The name “Zorro” is the secret identity of a Spanish colonial nobleman called Don Diego de la Vega. “Zorro” is Spanish for “fox”.

“The Mask of Zorro” is a 1998 action film starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The movie was a big hit, leading to a less well-received sequel called “The Legend of Zorro” in 2005.

65. iPod Mini successor : NANO
The iPod Nano is the successor to the iPod Mini and was introduced to the market at the end of 2005. There have been seven versions of the Nano to date and the current Nano as well as playing tunes is an FM player, records voice memos, has a pedometer and can connect with external devices (like a heart monitor, maybe) using Bluetooth technology.

71. Cartoon skunk Le Pew : PEPE
Pepé Le Pew is a very likeable cartoon character from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. Pepé is a French skunk, first introduced way back in 1945. He is always thinking of “l’amour” and chases the lady skunks, or a black cat with a white stripe painted down her back accidently.

Down
1. “The Barber of Seville” composer : ROSSINI
Rossini’s opera “The Barber of Seville” was first performed in 1816 in Rome. It was one of the first Italian operas to be performed in the US, premiering at the Park Theater in New York City in 1825.

3. San Jose, but not Santa Fe : SEAPORT
San Juan is the capital city of Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1521 by the Spanish, who called it “Ciudad de Puerto Rico” (Rich Port City).

Santa Fe is New Mexico’s capital, and the fourth most-populous city in the state (after Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Rio Rancho). Sitting at 7,199 feet above sea level, Santa Fe is the highest state capital in the US. The city’s name translates from Spanish as “Holy Faith”. The full name of the city when it was founded in 1607 was “La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís”, meaning “the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi”.

5. Battleship blast : SALVO
A salvo is a simultaneous discharge of guns. Ironically, “salvo” comes from the Latin “salve” meaning “be in good health”. Salvo was originally the name given to the firing of guns in the air as a sign of respect or greeting for an important visitor. Good health!

7. Disney boy helped by detectives : EMIL
“Emil and the Detectives” is a novel first published in 1929. It was originally written in German and was titled “Emil und die Detektive”. The Disney company released a screen adaptation in 1964.

8. Tennis star ranked #1 in the world, 1964-70 : ROD LAVER
Rod Laver is a former professional tennis champion, from Australia. Laver won all four Grand Slam singles titles in 1962, and at that time he wasn’t even a professional player. He won all four titles again in 1969, no longer an amateur, becoming the only tennis player to have achieved the feat twice. Not surprisingly, Laver was the world’s number one for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970. After he retired, Laver suffered a stroke during an interview with ESPN in 1998, but by all accounts he has made an excellent recovery.

10. Hammer part : PEEN
The peen of a hammer is on the head, and is the side of the head that is opposite the striking surface. Often the peen is in the shape of a hemisphere (as in a ball-peen hammer), but usually it is shaped like a claw (mainly for removing nails).

11. Negative stat. for a QB : INT
Interception (Int.)

21. Jamaican worshiper, for short : RASTA
I must admit that I don’t really understand Rastafarianism. I do know that a “Rasta”, like Bob Marley, is a follower of the movement. Some say that Rastafarianism is a religion, some not. I also know that it involves the worship of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.

26. Barista’s dispenser : URN
The person who serves coffee in a coffee shop is often called a “barista”. “Barista” is the Italian for “bartender”.

30. Bill who composed the score for “Rocky” : CONTI
Bill Conti is the composer who wrote the scores for all but one of the “Rocky” series of films, as well as the movies “For Your Eyes Only” and “The Right Stuff”. Two of the most famous of his songs are the title song from “For Your Eyes Only” and “Gonna Fly Now” from the original “Rocky”.

32. Brass or bronze : ALLOY
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Compare this with bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. Copper and bronze are often mistaken for each other.

33. Double bogey’s opposite : EAGLE
The following terms are routinely used in golf for scores relative to par:

– Bogey: one over par
– Par
– Birdie: one under par
– Eagle: two under par
– Albatross (also “double eagle”): three under par
– Condor: four under par

No one has ever recorded a condor during a professional tournament.

The term “Bogey” originated at the Great Yarmouth Golf Club in England in 1890, and was used to indicate a total round that was one-over-par (and not one-over-par on a particular hole, as it is today). The name Bogey came from a music hall song of the time “Here Comes the Bogey Man”. In the following years it became popular for players trying to stay at par to be “playing against Colonel Bogey”. Then, during WWI, the marching tune “Colonel Bogey” was written and named after the golfing term. If you don’t recognize the name of the tune, it’s the one that’s whistled by the soldiers marching in the great movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai”.

40. 1984 prize for Desmond Tutu : NOBEL
Desmond Tutu is a South African, a former Anglican bishop who is an outspoken opponent of apartheid. Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, among other distinguished awards.

41. Rx watchdog : FDA
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started out as the Food, Drug and Insecticide organization in 1906, after President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law the Food and Drug Act. The main driver behind the Act was concern over public hygiene.

There seems to some uncertainty about the origin of the symbol “Rx” that’s used for a medical prescription. One explanation is that it comes from the astrological sign for Jupiter, a symbol put on prescriptions in days of old to invoke Jupiter’s blessing to help a patient recover.

42. Mardi Gras king : REX
“Mardi Gras” translates from French as “Fat Tuesday”, and gets its name from the practice of eating rich foods on the eve of the fasting season known as Lent. Lent starts on the next day, called Ash Wednesday.

43. Genesis evictee : EVE
In the Christian tradition, the “fall of man” took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, against the bidding of God. As a result, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden to prevent them becoming immortal by eating from the tree of life. The first humans had transitioned from a state of innocent obedience to a state of guilty disobedience.

50. Capital of Punjab province : LAHORE
Lahore is a large city in Pakistan, second in size only to Karachi. It is known as the Garden of the Mughals (or in English, Moguls) because of its association with the Mughal Empire. The Mughals ruled much of India from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

51. Everest guide : SHERPA
In the Tibetan language, Sherpa means “eastern people” (sher = east, pa = people). Sherpas are an ethnic group from Nepal, but the name is also used for the local guides who assist mountaineers in the Himalayas, and particularly on Mount Everest.

60. Clouseau’s rank: Abbr. : INSP
Inspector Jacques Clouseau is the wonderful detective character in “The Pink Panther” series of films. The definitive player of the role was English actor Peter Sellers. Clouseau worked for the Sûreté, the detective branch of the French National Police.

62. Bruin Hall-of-Famer Bobby : ORR
Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking …

63. Result of a bases-loaded walk, briefly : RBI
Runs batted in (RBI)

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Get a promotion : RISE
5. Johnny Carson’s Carnac the Magnificent, e.g. : SEER
9. 1972 Olympics sensation Mark : SPITZ
14. Linear, in brief : ONE-D
15. Buckshot and such : AMMO
16. Painter Matisse : HENRI
17. Carpet choice : SHAG
18. Installed, as 17-Across : LAID
19. Mark up or down, say : RETAG
20. Lex Luthor, notably : SUPERVILLAIN
23. “I’d say,” in texts : IMO
24. I.S.P. that bought CompuServe : AOL
25. Nonverbal communication, for short : ASL
26. Postage stamp letters : USA
29. Busters? : NARCS
31. High-end tailoring area in London : SAVILE ROW
34. As a whole : IN TOTO
36. Do-over serve : LET
37. Prince Harry’s aunt : ANNE
38. Belly dancer’s decoration : NAVEL RING
41. Neck ridge : FRET
44. Prefix with skeleton : EXO-
45. 100% : SOLELY
49. Tropicana Field team renamed in 2008 : DEVIL RAYS
52. Refute : BELIE
53. Send packing : AXE
54. Hyman Rickover’s rank: Abbr. : ADM
55. Hurry, old-style : HIE
57. ___ Air (Taiwanese carrier) : EVA
58. What’s found on some canapés (and hiding in the answers to 20-, 31-, 38- and 49-Across?) : CHOPPED LIVER
61. 1998 and 2005 role for Banderas : ZORRO
64. Handed-down wisdom : LORE
65. iPod Mini successor : NANO
66. Shady spot : ARBOR
67. Airer of the “Not Top Ten” plays : ESPN
68. Sci-fi weapon setting : STUN
69. Bellyache : GRIPE
70. Judicial position : SEAT
71. Cartoon skunk Le Pew : PEPE

Down
1. “The Barber of Seville” composer : ROSSINI
2. Barbaric : INHUMAN
3. San Jose, but not Santa Fe : SEAPORT
4. Slight advantage : EDGE
5. Battleship blast : SALVO
6. Many 24-Across messages : EMAILS
7. Disney boy helped by detectives : EMIL
8. Tennis star ranked #1 in the world, 1964-70 : ROD LAVER
9. Like the sound of a siren : SHRILL
10. Hammer part : PEEN
11. Negative stat. for a QB : INT
12. ___ la la : TRA
13. Sharp turn : ZIG
21. Jamaican worshiper, for short : RASTA
22. “If nothing changes …” : AS IT IS …
26. Barista’s dispenser : URN
27. Prince, e.g. : SON
28. Blow away : AWE
30. Bill who composed the score for “Rocky” : CONTI
32. Brass or bronze : ALLOY
33. Double bogey’s opposite : EAGLE
35. Go to extremes with : OVERDO
39. For-instances : EXAMPLES
40. 1984 prize for Desmond Tutu : NOBEL
41. Rx watchdog : FDA
42. Mardi Gras king : REX
43. Genesis evictee : EVE
46. Promote in rank : ELEVATE
47. Add zip to : LIVEN UP
48. Beginning of time, figuratively : YEAR ONE
50. Capital of Punjab province : LAHORE
51. Everest guide : SHERPA
56. Air traveler’s need: Abbr. : IDENT
58. Trim, as a photo : CROP
59. What a model strikes : POSE
60. Clouseau’s rank: Abbr. : INSP
61. Reverse of a 13-Down : ZAG
62. Bruin Hall-of-Famer Bobby : ORR
63. Result of a bases-loaded walk, briefly : RBI

Return to top of page

The Best of the New York Times Crossword Collections
Amazon.com Widgets