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CROSSWORD SETTER: Zhouqin Burnikel
THEME: Crowns in Logos … each of today’s themed answers is an entity with a logo that features a CROWN:
64A. Royal topper … or part of the logos of 16-, 21-, 38- and 53-Across CROWN
16A. Hockey team that plays at Staples Center LOS ANGELES KINGS
21A. Super Bowl advertiser with Clydesdale horses BUDWEISER
38A. Luxury watch brand ROLEX
53A. Busy company around Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day HALLMARK CARDS
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 4m 22s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Hiking trail reference MAP
Our word “map” comes from the Latin “mappa” meaning “napkin, cloth”. Maps were drawn on cloth, hence the name.
12. Like most Jordanians ARAB
The nation that we know as Jordan takes its name from the River Jordan that forms part of the country’s border with Israel and Palestine to the west. Jordan achieved independence in 1946 after the UN approved the end of the British Transjordan Mandate. The Kingdom of Transjordan changed its name to Jordan in 1948.
14. Klum of “Project Runway” HEIDI
German-born Heidi Klum was married to the successful English singer, Seal. Klum is a talented lady and has built a multi-faceted career based on her early success as a model. She is the force behind the Bravo reality show called “Project Runway” that has been on the air since 2004. Klum has been nominated 4-5 times for an Emmy for her association with the show. Klum was also signed up as the official ambassador for Barbie in 2009, the 50th anniversary of the Barbie Doll, and for her service that year a Heidi Klum Barbie was produced. She has been adding a touch of class to the judging panel on the show “America’s Got Talent” since 2013.
16. Hockey team that plays at Staples Center LOS ANGELES KINGS
The Los Angeles Kings beat the New Jersey Devils in 2012 to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in the franchise’s history.
The Staples Center is a sports arena in Los Angeles that opened in 1999. The Staples Center is home to several sporting franchises, including the LA Lakers and LA Clippers basketball teams and the LA Kings hockey team.
20. Chocolate wafer bar in a red wrapper KIT KAT
I grew up eating Kit Kat bars as a kid, as the chocolate confection has been around since the thirties. Kit Kats didn’t hit the shelves in the US until the seventies. I’ve seen new varieties of Kit Kat over in the UK, such as an orange-flavored version, but haven’t seen anything like that over here.
21. Super Bowl advertiser with Clydesdale horses BUDWEISER
The American beer named Budweiser is named for the Czech town of Budweis (“České Budějovice” in Czech). The name is the subject of a dispute as here is an original Czech beer with a similar name, Budweiser Budvar. American Budweiser is sold in most European countries as “Bud”.
The Budweiser Clydesdales were first used in 1933, when they carried the first case of beer produced by the Anheuser Busch Brewery in a ceremonial trip through St. Louis to celebrate the end of prohibition. The team of horse was then transported by rail to New York City where they were used to present two cases of Budweiser to Al Smith, the former governor who vigorously opposed prohibition.
28. ___ Solo of “Star Wars” HAN
Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.
34. What someone’s best at FORTE
A person’s “forte” is a person’s strength, a term coming into English via French from the Latin “fortis” meaning strong.
36. Online tech review site CNET
c|net is an excellent technology website. c|net started out in 1994 as a television network specializing in technology news. The host of “American Idol”, Ryan Seacrest, started off his career as host of a c|net show.
37. ABC a.m. show, for short GMA
“Good Morning America” (GMA) is ABC’s morning show, and has been since 1975. There was even a spinoff show called “Good Afternoon America”, although that only lasted for a few months in 2012.
38. Luxury watch brand ROLEX
My most prized possession is a stainless steel Rolex watch that my uncle bought while serving with the RAF in Canada during WWII. Rolex watches were made available to the Canadian servicemen at that time as they were shipping overseas. My uncle brought his Rolex home to Ireland after the war. He needed money for booze one weekend and so sold the watch to my Dad, for five pounds. My Dad gave it to me just before he died, as he knew I loved the watch, and my brothers weren’t interested in it all. Not so long ago I had the watch appraised ($3,000), and my brothers suddenly took a liking to it! Still, it’s not something that will ever be sold, that’s for sure …
39. What a fawn might grow into DOE
A fawn is a young deer, often less than a year old.
42. “Don Giovanni” or “Don Pasquale” OPERA
“Don Giovanni” is a comic opera by Mozart, with the libretto in Italian by Lorenzo Da Ponte. The opera follows the adventures of Don Giovanni, a young rakish nobleman who finally comes to a bad end.
“Don Pasquale” is a comic opera by Gaetano Donizetti. The title character is a wealthy and lonely old man who seeks out a bride. He falls for a young widow who has taken on the guise of a quiet and shy lady. After the marriage contract is signed, the widow becomes noisy, obnoxious and demanding. Hilarity ensues …
43. Spanish miss: Abbr. SRTA
Señorita (Srta.) is Spanish, and mademoiselle (Mlle.) is French, for “Miss”.
49. Lana Del ___, singer with the 2014 #1 album “Ultraviolence” REY
Lana Del Rey is the stage name of singer/songwriter Elizabeth Grant. Del Rey calls herself a “self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra”. Nice …
53. Busy company around Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day HALLMARK CARDS
Hallmark produces more greeting cards in the US than any other company. The company was started by Joyce Clyde Hall in 1910, and by 1915 was known as Hall Brothers after his brother Rollie joined the enterprise. Rollie invented what we know today as “wrapping paper”, displacing the traditional use of colored tissue paper for wrapping gifts. The company took on the name “Hallmark” in 1928, taking the term for the symbol used by goldsmiths in London in the 1500s.
Note the official punctuation in “Mother’s Day”, even though one might think it should be “Mothers’ Day”. President Wilson, and Anna Jarvis who created the tradition, specifically wanted Mother’s Day to honor the mothers within each family and not just “mothers” in general, so they went with the “Mother’s Day” punctuation.
Saint Valentine’s Day (February 14th) was chosen by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD to honor various martyrs with the name Valentine. However, the saint’s day was dropped by the Roman Catholic church in 1969, by Pope Paul VI. Try telling that to Hallmark though …
57. Hersey’s “A Bell for ___” ADANO
“A Bell for Adano” is a novel written by John Hersey. Hersey’s story is about an Italian-American US Army officer, Major Joppolo, who found a replacement for a town’s bell stolen by fascists. “A Bell for Adano” was made into a film in 1945, the same year the novel won a Pulitzer.
58. Memorandum NOTE
“Memorandum” means “thing to be remembered” in Latin, from the verb “memorare” meaning “to call to mind”.
60. 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wiesel ELIE
Elie Wiesel is a holocaust survivor, best known for his book “Night” that tells of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
63. Suffix with Vietnam -ESE
Vietnam is the country with the13th-largest population in the word. It covers all of the eastern coast of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia.
Down
1. Niger’s western neighbor MALI
The Republic of Mali is a landlocked country in western Africa, south of Algeria. Formerly known as French Sudan, the nation’s most famous city is Timbuktu. Mali is the third-largest producer of gold on the continent, after South Africa and Ghana.
The Republic of Niger is a landlocked country in Western Africa that gets its name from the Niger River. 80% of the country lies within the bounds of the Sahara Desert.
2. Yankee slugger with the most M.L.B. career grand slams, informally A-ROD
Professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez earned more nicknames than just A-Rod. He has been called “the Cooler” by some players as there is a perception that teams go cold when he joins them and hot when he leaves. He has also been called “A-Fraud” by teammates because of another perception, that he is over-demanding. Rodriguez now seems to be in a world of hurt for using illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
3. El ___, Tex. PASO
Although there have been human settlements in the El Paso area for thousands of years, the first European settlement was founded in 1659 by the Spanish. That first community was on the south bank of the Rio Grande, and was called El Paso del Norte (the North Pass). Most of the urban development under Spanish rule took place on the south side of the river, with El Paso del Norte acting as the center of governance for the Spanish for the territory of New Mexico. The Rio Grande was chosen as the border between Mexico and the US in 1848, so most of the city of El Paso del Norte became part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua (and is now called Ciudad Juarez). The area north of the river developed as a US military post, eventually becoming the modern city of El Paso, Texas.
5. Word before a maiden name NEE
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.
7. Suffix with cyan- -IDE
Cyanide poisoning is caused by exposure to cyanide (CN) ions. The cyanide ions inhibit respiration at the cellular level, making the organism unable to use oxygen. “Cyanide” comes from the Greek “kyanos” meaning “dark blue”. The name was applied as cyanide was first obtained from the pigment called Prussian Blue.
10. Org. whose website has many links? USGA
The United States Golf Association (USGA) was formed in 1894. The need for a governing body for the sport became evident that year when both the Newport Country Club and the St. Andrew’s Golf Club in Yonkers, declared that the winner of a tournament at each of their courses was the “national amateur champion”. The first president of the USGA was Theodore Havemeyer, and to this day the one and only US Amateur Trophy bears his name.
13. Dugout figure BAT BOY
A “dugout” is an underground shelter. The term was carried over to baseball because the dugout is slightly depressed below the level of the field. This allows spectators behind the dugout to get a good view of home plate, where a lot of the action takes place.
18. Ukraine’s capital KIEV
Kiev is the capital of Ukraine and a beautiful city, from what I’ve heard from friends who have visited …
Ukraine is a large country in Eastern Europe, a Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) before the dissolution of the USSR. In English we often call the country “the” Ukraine, but I am told that we should just say “Ukraine”.
23. Three-time Grammy winner Steve EARLE
Steve Earle is an American songwriter and performer, with a reputation as a man who has lived a hard life. Earle’s brushes with the law and drug addiction problems have earned him the nickname “the hardcore troubadour”.
25. Where Buddhists worship PAGODA
Pagodas are tiered (“storied”) towers found in various parts of Asia, usually built for religious purposes.
26. Fed. fugitive hunters US MARSHALS
The office of US Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the country, and was created in 1789. The federal agency called the United States Marshal Service (USMS) was formed in 1969. Included in the list of duties of the USMS is the apprehension of federal fugitives, transportation of federal prisoners and the protection of endangered federal witnesses.
30. Google smartphone released in 2014 ANDROID ONE
The Android Operating System is used by many manufacturers of smartphones. Google partners with several companies to produce Android One phones. The beauty of the Android One is that it runs an unadulterated version of the Android Operating System, one that hasn’t been “customized” by the likes of T-Mobile or Verizon.
31. “War and Peace” author LEO TOLSTOY
The Russian author Leo Tolstoy is best known for his novels “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”. He also wrote the celebrated novellas “Hadji Murad” and “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”.
35. SAT, e.g. EXAM
Today the standardized test for admission to colleges is known as the SAT Reasoning Test, but it used to be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, which led to the initialism “SAT”.
41. Gracefully thin SVELTE
“Svelte” comes into English from Latin, via the Italian “svelto” meaning “stretched out”. Something or someone described as svelte would be slender and graceful. As if I would know anything about svelte …
45. Course for many immigrants, for short ESL
English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
47. ___ Victrola RCA
The Victrola was a phonograph in which the turntable and horn could be hidden away in a wooden cabinet. The “Victrola” name was used as the phonograph was manufactured by the Victor Talking Machine Company. The Victor Talking Machine Company was sold to RCA, leading to the creation of RCA Victor.
50. Muse for Lord Byron ERATO
In Greek mythology, Erato was the Muse of Lyric Poetry.
George Gordon Byron, known simply as “Lord Byron”, was an English poet active in the early 1800s. Byron was equally as famous for his poetry as he was for the wild excesses in his personal life. Byron lived much of that life outside of England, and fought for revolutionaries in both Italy and Greece. He died from a fever contracted while fighting for the Greeks against the Ottomans.
54. “WTF With ___ Maron” (popular podcast) MARC
Stand-up comedian Marc Maron has been hosting the podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” since 2009. The online show features interviews with comedians and celebrities. The list of interviewees is pretty impressive, and includes Conan O’Brien, Robin Williams and even President Barack Obama.
55. Hartford’s state: Abbr. CONN
Hartford is the capital of the state of Connecticut. The city is home to the headquarters of many insurance companies. As such Hartford is nicknamed the “Insurance Capital of the World”.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Hiking trail reference MAP
4. Sign in a radio studio ON AIR
9. Massage RUB
12. Like most Jordanians ARAB
14. Klum of “Project Runway” HEIDI
15. Lawyer’s assignment CASE
16. Hockey team that plays at Staples Center LOS ANGELES KINGS
19. “Same here!” I DO TOO!
20. Chocolate wafer bar in a red wrapper KIT KAT
21. Super Bowl advertiser with Clydesdale horses BUDWEISER
25. Don PUT ON
28. ___ Solo of “Star Wars” HAN
29. Lab glasses VIALS
33. Pale-faced ASHY
34. What someone’s best at FORTE
36. Online tech review site CNET
37. ABC a.m. show, for short GMA
38. Luxury watch brand ROLEX
39. What a fawn might grow into DOE
40. Food in a feedbag OATS
42. “Don Giovanni” or “Don Pasquale” OPERA
43. Spanish miss: Abbr. SRTA
44. Golf shots off tees DRIVES
46. Hip guy MR COOL
48. Donkeys ASSES
49. Lana Del ___, singer with the 2014 #1 album “Ultraviolence” REY
52. Gets ready to strike, as a snake COILS
53. Busy company around Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day HALLMARK CARDS
56. “S” on the dinner table SALT
57. Hersey’s “A Bell for ___” ADANO
58. Memorandum NOTE
60. 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wiesel ELIE
61. Betray, as a naughty sibling RAT ON
62. Frequent Arctic forecast SNOW
63. Suffix with Vietnam -ESE
64. Royal topper … or part of the logos of 16-, 21-, 38- and 53-Across CROWN
65. Lens of a camera, essentially EYE
Down
1. Niger’s western neighbor MALI
2. Yankee slugger with the most M.L.B. career grand slams, informally A-ROD
3. El ___, Tex. PASO
4. “Good heavens!” OH GOD!
5. Word before a maiden name NEE
6. Have a bug AIL
7. Suffix with cyan- -IDE
8. Insurers assume them RISKS
9. Captain or major RANK
10. Org. whose website has many links? USGA
11. Cream of the crop BEST
13. Dugout figure BAT BOY
15. ___ acid (part of lemons and oranges) CITRIC
17. Follower of “a” or “the,” often NOUN
18. Ukraine’s capital KIEV
22. “Big ___” (“Who cares?”) WHOOP
23. Three-time Grammy winner Steve EARLE
24. Encrypt? INTER
25. Where Buddhists worship PAGODA
26. Fed. fugitive hunters US MARSHALS
27. “NOT true!” THAT IS A LIE!
30. Google smartphone released in 2014 ANDROID ONE
31. “War and Peace” author LEO TOLSTOY
32. Thieves STEALS
34. Bushy dos, informally FROS
35. SAT, e.g. EXAM
41. Gracefully thin SVELTE
43. Looks down on SCORNS
45. Course for many immigrants, for short ESL
47. ___ Victrola RCA
49. Control tower device RADAR
50. Muse for Lord Byron ERATO
51. “Get what I mean?,” informally Y’KNOW
54. “WTF With ___ Maron” (popular podcast) MARC
55. Hartford’s state: Abbr. CONN
56. “Get what I mean?” SEE?
59. Woolly mama EWE
The Best of the New York Times Crossword Collections
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I loved " wooly mama". ST in OZ
Growing up in St. Louis, my grandparents lived a few blocks from the BUDWEISER brewery. If the wind was blowing just right, the whole neighborhood smelled of hops…great times.
Orange-flavored KITKATs?