0810-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 10 Aug 15, Monday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: C. W. Stewart
THEME: Say Cheese … each of today’s themed answers ends a typical shape of a piece of cheese:

58A. “Smile!” … or a hint to the ends of the answers to the five starred clues : SAY “CHEESE!”

17A. *Club used in a bunker : SAND WEDGE
32A. *1980s hand-held puzzle craze : RUBIK’S CUBE
41A. *Many a countertop : MARBLE SLAB
3D. *Inability to recall something : MENTAL BLOCK
26D. *Riverboat propeller : PADDLE WHEEL

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 4m 45s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

14. Back end of a hammer : 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).

15. Toy building brick : LEGO
Lego is manufactured by Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1934 and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949. The blocks were originally sold under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks” but I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.

17. *Club used in a bunker : SAND WEDGE
Sand traps on a golf course are sometimes referred to as “bunkers”, especially on the other side of the Atlantic.

20. N.J. winter hrs. : EST
Eastern Standard Time (EST)

21. Old crones : HAGS
“Hag” is a shortened form of the Old English word “haegtesse” meaning, “witch”.

22. Rehab problem, 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”.

28. 33 1/3 r.p.m. records : LPS
The first vinyl records designed to play at 33 1/3 rpm were introduced by RCA Victor in 1931, but were discontinued due to quality problems. The first Long Play (LP) 33 1/3 rpm disc was introduced by Columbia Records many years later in 1948, with RCA Victor following up with a 45 rpm “single” the following year, in 1949.

29. Cracker spread : PATE
Pâté is a rich, spreadable paste made up of a mixture of ground meat and fat, to which various vegetables, herbs and spices may be added. The most famous version of the paste is pâté de foie gras, made from the fattened livers of geese (“foie gras” means “fat liver” in French).

30. Priest’s robe : ALB
An alb is a white, neck-to-toe vestment worn by priests, usually with a rope cord around the waist. The term alb comes from “albus”, the Latin word for “white”.

32. *1980s hand-held puzzle craze : RUBIK’S CUBE
What was originally called the “Magic Cube” became better known as Rubik’s Cube, named for its inventor Ernő Rubik. Rubik’s Cube is the world’s biggest selling puzzle game, with over 350 million sold in just over 30 years.

36. “Garfield” dog : ODIE
Odie is Garfield’s best friend and is a slobbery beagle, a character in Jim Davis’s comic strip named “Garfield”.

37. ___ of Man : ISLE
The Isle of Man is a large island located in the middle of the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. I used to spend a lot of time there in my youth, and a very interesting place it is indeed. The Isle of Man is classed as a British Crown Dependency and isn’t part of the United Kingdom at all. It is self-governing and has its own parliament called the Tynwald. The Tynwald was created in AD 979 and is arguably the oldest continuously-running parliament in the world. The inhabitants of the island speak English, although they do have their own language as well called Manx, which is very similar to Irish Gaeilge and Scottish Gaelic. And then there are those Manx cats, the ones without any tails. I’ve seen lots of them, and can attest that they are indeed found all over the island.

38. Dashing Flynn of films : ERROL
Errol Flynn was born 1909 in Tasmania, Australia where he was raised. In his twenties, Flynn lived in the UK where he pursued his acting career. Around the same time he starred in an Australian film “In the Wake of the Bounty” and then appeared in a British film “Murder at Monte Carlo”. It was in the latter film that he was noticed by Warner Brothers who brought him to America. Flynn’s non-American heritage shone through even while he was living the American dream in California. He regularly played cricket, along with his friend David Niven, in the Hollywood Cricket Club.

39. Woodworking tool : ADZE
An adze (also adz) is similar to an axe, but is different in that the blade of an adze is set at right angles to the tool’s shaft. An axe’s blade is set in line with the shaft.

40. Corp. bigwigs : CEOS
Chief executive officer (CEO)

44. “That’s mine!” : DIBS!
The phrase “to have dibs on” expresses a claim on something. Apparently, the term “dibs” is a contraction of “dibstone”, which was a knucklebone or jack used in a children’s game.

48. Reference work on notable people published since 1899 : WHO’S WHO
Several publications use the phrase “Who’s Who” in the title. The oldest and best known is the British reference “Who’s Who” that has been listing prominent British people since 1849. There is a sister publication called “Who Was Who” that lists prominent people who have died since 1897.

53. Swamp critter : CROC
Crocodiles and alligators bear a resemblance to each other, although they belong to distinct biological families. One of the main ways used to distinguish them is by their teeth and jaws. Both the upper and lower sets of teeth of a crocodile are visible when its mouth is closed, whereas only the upper teeth of an alligator are visible with the mouth shut.

58. “Smile!” … or a hint to the ends of the answers to the five starred clues : SAY “CHEESE!”
Photographers often instruct us to say “cheese”, to elicit a smile-like expression. Even Japanese photographers use the word “cheese” for the same effect. Bulgarians use the word “zele” meaning “cabbage”. The Chinese say “eggplant”, the Danish “orange”, the Iranians “apple” and the most Latin Americans say “whiskey”.

65. Alan of “The Aviator” : ALDA
Alan Alda has had a great television career, especially of course on “M*A*S*H”. Alda won his first Emmy in 1972, for playing Hawkeye Pierce on “M*A*S*H”. He won his most recent Emmy in 2006 for his portrayal of Presidential candidate Arnold Vinick in “The West Wing”. When it comes to the big screen, my favorite of Alda’s movies is the 1978 romantic comedy “Same Time, Next Year” in which he starred opposite Ellen Burstyn.

“The Aviator” is a great film from 2004, a biographical piece about much of the life of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the title role, with Cate Blanchett playing a very credible Katharine Hepburn, Hughes’ lover with whom he lived for quite some time. Blanchett won a very much deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. Alan Alda received an Oscar nomination as a supporting actor, playing Senator Owen Brewster, a thorn in the side for Howard Hughes.

Down
1. Cathedral areas : APSES
The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

7. Waffle ingredients : EGGS
You can’t get a Belgian waffle in Belgium, and the nearest thing is probably a Brussels waffle. Brussels waffles were introduced to the world in 1958, and arrived in the US in 1962 at the Century 21 Exposition in Seattle. The name “Brussels” was changed to “Bel-Gem” for the US market, which evolved into “Belgian”.

11. Many, many years : EON
Geological time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

– supereon
– eon (also “aeon”)
– era
– period
– epoch
– age

12. Sch. in Tempe : ASU
Arizona State University (ASU) has a long history, founded as the Tempe Normal School for the Arizona Territory in 1885. The athletic teams of ASU used to be known as the Normals, then the Bulldogs, and since 1946 they’ve been called the Sun Devils.

Tempe is a city in the metropolitan area of Phoenix. The city is named for the Vale of Tempe in Greece.

24. 007 and others : SPIES
James Bond was the creation of the writer Ian Fleming. Fleming “stole” the James Bond name from an American ornithologist. The number 007 also was “stolen” from the real-life, 16th century English spy called John Dee. Dee would sign his reports to Queen Elizabeth I with a stylized “007” to indicate that the reports were for “her eyes only”.

25. Big shot : NABOB
A “nawab” (also “nabob”) was a deputy governor in the Mogul empire in India. The term is also used as an Muslim honorary title in India and Pakistan. We use “nabob” in English for a person of wealth and prominence.

27. “My Fair Lady” lady : ELIZA
Eliza Doolittle is Professor Henry Higgins’ speech student in George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”. “Pygmalion” was adapted by Lerner and Loewe to become the Broadway musical “My Fair Lady”. The musical spun off the wonderful 1964 film of the same name starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. To cockney Eliza Doolittle, Professor Henry Higgins was “‘Enry ‘Iggins”.

31. British network, with “the” : BEEB
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is also known as “the Beeb”, a name given to the network by the great Peter Sellers on the classic British radio comedy called “The Goon Show”. The BBC was founded in 1922, and was the world’s first national broadcasting organization.

32. Costa ___ : RICA
Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua in the north, and Panama to the South. Costa Rica is remarkable in my opinion, a leader on the world stage in many areas. It has been referred to as the “greenest” country in the world, the “happiest” country in the world, and has a highly educated populace. In 1949, the country unilaterally abolished its own army … permanently!

34. Jew or Arab : SEMITE
The word “Semitic” comes from the Greek for Shem, one of the three sons of Noah. A Semite is one of a large list of peoples, from the Assyrians and Babylonians to the Hebrews. The term “anti-Semite” however, almost always refers to anti-Jewish sentiment.

49. Takes to a pawnshop : HOCKS
The phrase “in hock” is an American invention. Back in the mid-19th century “in hock” meant both “in debt” and “in prison”. The word “hock” comes from the Dutch “hok” meaning “jail”.

I remember the bad old days growing up in Dublin, Ireland, when my mother had to go to the pawn shop (I hope she doesn’t read this!). I’d wait outside with my brother, looking up at the pawnbroker’s sign, three gold balls hanging down from a metal bar. This traditional sign used by pawnbrokers is said to date back to the Medici family as the sign had symbolic meaning in the province of Lombardy where the Medici family reigned supreme. Because of this connection, pawn shop banking was originally called Lombard banking.

51. La Scala offering : OPERA
La Scala Opera House opened in 1778. It was built on the site of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which gave the theater its name: “Teatro alla Scala” in Italian.

53. Irene of “Fame” : CARA
Irene Cara (as well as acting in “Fame”) sang the theme songs to the hit movies “Fame” and “Flashdance”.

56. Paul Bunyan’s tool : AXE
The mythological Paul Bunyan had a sidekick called Babe the Blue Ox. Both Bunyan and Babe were gigantic in size.

58. Gas tank additive : STP
STP is a brand name for automotive lubricants and additives. The name STP comes from “Scientifically Treated Petroleum”.

59. Org. concerned with clean air : EPA
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Pinnacle : ACME
5. “That was a close one!” : PHEW!
9. Penny-pinching : CHEAP
14. Back end of a hammer : PEEN
15. Toy building brick : LEGO
16. Like some screws and translations : LOOSE
17. *Club used in a bunker : SAND WEDGE
19. Confess (to) : OWN UP
20. N.J. winter hrs. : EST
21. Old crones : HAGS
22. Rehab problem, for short : DTS
23. Boardwalk’s locale : SEASIDE
25. Zero chance : NO HOPE
28. 33 1/3 r.p.m. records : LPS
29. Cracker spread : PATE
30. Priest’s robe : ALB
32. *1980s hand-held puzzle craze : RUBIK’S CUBE
36. “Garfield” dog : ODIE
37. ___ of Man : ISLE
38. Dashing Flynn of films : ERROL
39. Woodworking tool : ADZE
40. Corp. bigwigs : CEOS
41. *Many a countertop : MARBLE SLAB
43. Part of a circle : ARC
44. “That’s mine!” : DIBS!
45. Bake sale purchase : PIE
46. Avoids, as an issue : SKIRTS
48. Reference work on notable people published since 1899 : WHO’S WHO
52. Golf ball propper-upper : TEE
53. Swamp critter : CROC
54. Move like a flea : HOP
55. What 32-Across has six of : FACES
58. “Smile!” … or a hint to the ends of the answers to the five starred clues : SAY “CHEESE!”
60. Midterms and finals : EXAMS
61. Long, arduous walk : TREK
62. Look through binoculars, e.g. : PEER
63. Full of gossip : NEWSY
64. 3, 4 and 5, on golf courses : PARS
65. Alan of “The Aviator” : ALDA

Down
1. Cathedral areas : APSES
2. Stop : CEASE
3. *Inability to recall something : MENTAL BLOCK
4. Stop : END
5. Argue in court : PLEAD
6. Waffle : HEDGE
7. Waffle ingredients : EGGS
8. Misfortune : WOE
9. Cover with a garment : CLOTHE
10. “In what way?” : HOW SO?
11. Many, many years : EON
12. Sch. in Tempe : ASU
13. Vim and vigor : PEP
18. ___ broom : WHISK
22. “I gotta hear this!” : DO TELL!
24. 007 and others : SPIES
25. Big shot : NABOB
26. *Riverboat propeller : PADDLE WHEEL
27. “My Fair Lady” lady : ELIZA
29. Contented cat sounds : PURRS
31. British network, with “the” : BEEB
32. Costa ___ : RICA
33. ___ manual : USER’S
34. Jew or Arab : SEMITE
35. Grouchy sorts : CRABS
36. Green spot in a desert : OASIS
42. Many, many years : EPOCH
44. Like gala attire : DRESSY
47. List components : ITEMS
48. More twisted, as humor : WRYER
49. Takes to a pawnshop : HOCKS
50. Fleeced : HOSED
51. La Scala offering : OPERA
53. Irene of “Fame” : CARA
55. Quagmire : FEN
56. Paul Bunyan’s tool : AXE
57. Cornfield call : CAW
58. Gas tank additive : STP
59. Org. concerned with clean air : EPA

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