1013-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 13 Oct 15, Tuesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
8. Some Impressionist paintings : MANETS
Édouard Manet was a French painter whose works are mainly classified as Realist. Manet was friends with Impressionists masters like Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir and greatly influenced the Impressionist movement. The list of Manet’s marvelous paintings includes “Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe”, “Le Repose” and “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère”.

17. Art supplies since 1903 : CRAYOLA CRAYONS
In the year 2000 the Crayola company, very cleverly I think, held the “Crayola Color Census 2000” in which people were polled and asked for their favorite Crayola colors. President George W. Bush chose “Blue Bell” and Tiger Woods chose “Wild Strawberry”.

18. Looney Tunes character with a strong Southern accent : FOGHORN LEGHORN
Foghorn Leghorn is a lovable rooster who appears in “Looney Tunes” and “Merrie Melodies” cartoons from the forties through the sixties. Foghorn’s marvelous voice was provided by the great Mel Blanc. The rooster’s demeanor was drawn directly from a character called Senator Beauregard Claghorn, a blustery Southern politician who appeared regularly on radio’s “The Fred Allen Show”.

22. As a result : ERGO
“Ergo” is the Latin word for “hence, therefore”.

23. Belligerent son of Zeus : ARES
The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos, Deimos and Eros. The Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

In Greek mythology, Zeus was the ruler of the gods of Mount Olympus. He was also the god of the sky and thunder. The Roman equivalent of Zeus was Jupiter.

28. “___ Last Bow” (Sherlock Holmes story) : HIS
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story titled “His Last Bow” features the author’s most famous character Sherlock Holmes. Published in 1917, during WWI, “His Last Bow” might be referred to as a propaganda tool, written with the intent of boosting morale. It is an unusual Sherlock Holmes tale in that it is not a detective story, but rather deals with British and German spies.

32. Egypt’s ___ Dam : ASWAN
The Egyptian city of Aswan lies in the south of the country, on the River Nile. Aswan is famous for its stone quarries, going back to ancient times. The most celebrated granite rock from the area is called syenite. Stone from Aswan was shipped northwards along the Nile and used in the construction of the pyramids. From ancient times right up to 1970, the annual flooding of the Nile was a significant event in Egypt. The flooding allowed the deposition of fertile silt far beyond the banks of the river, helping the region’s agriculture. However, the flooding was unpredictable. So the Aswan Dam was built in the sixties and from 1970 the flooding was brought under control.

36. Flapper accessory : BOA
Flappers were the so-called “new breed” of young women of the twenties. The flappers wore their hair short (with ringlets), dressed in short skirts and generally rebelled against the accepted norms of the time. The term “flapper” comes from the 1920 movie “The Flapper” starring Olive Thomas as a young woman who lived the more liberal lifestyle that was emerging at that time.

39. Director with three films on A.F.I.’s list of 100 greatest movies, all of them silent : CHARLIE CHAPLIN
Charlie Chaplin earned the nickname “The Tramp” (also “Little Tramp”) from the much-loved character that he frequently played on the screen. Chaplin was much-respected as a performer. The great George Bernard Shaw referred to him as “the only genius to come out of the movie industry”.

41. “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” band : HERMAN’S HERMITS
“I’m Henery the Eighth, I Am” is an old music hall song that dates back to 1910. As old as it is, the song was an incredibly successful release for Herman’s Hermits in 1965, becoming the band’s second number-one in the charts.

I’m ‘Enery the Eighth, I am,
‘Enery the Eighth I am, I am!
I got married to the widow next door,
She’s been married seven times before
And every one was an ‘Enery
She wouldn’t have a Willie nor a Sam
I’m her eighth old man named ‘Enery
‘Enery the Eighth, I am!

46. Coupes and sedans : AUTOS
The type of car known as a “coupe” or “coupé” is a closed automobile with two doors. The name comes from the French word “couper” meaning “to cut”. In most parts of the English-speaking world the pronunciation adheres to the original French, but here in most of North America we go with “coop”. The original coupé was a horse-drawn carriage that was cut (coupé) to eliminate the rear-facing passenger seats. That left just a driver and two front-facing passengers. If the driver was left without a roof and out in the open, then the carriage was known as a “coupé de-ville”.

The American “sedan” car is the equivalent of the British “saloon” car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in the UK), although in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.

48. List-ending abbr. : ETC
Et cetera (etc.)

49. Uses a divining rod : DOWSES
Dowsing is the practice of divining for not just water, but also buried metals and gemstones for example. Often a dowser will use a Y-shaped or L-shaped rod as a tool, which can also be called a dowser. Here in the US, the tool used might be referred to as a “witching rod”, as it is usually made from witch-hazel.

55. Unsubtle performers : HAMS
The word “ham”, describing a performer who overacts, is apparently a shortened form of “hamfatter” and dates back to the late 1800s. “Hamfatter” comes from a song in old minstrel shows called “The Ham-Fat Man”. It seems that a poorly performing actor was deemed to have the “acting” qualities of a minstrel made up in blackface.

59. Southernmost Great Lake : ERIE
Lake Erie is the fourth-largest and southernmost of the five Great Lakes by area (Lake Ontario is the smallest). The lake takes its name from the Erie tribe of Native Americans that used to live along its southern shore. Erie is the smallest of the Great Lakes by volume and the shallowest, something for which nearby residents must be quite grateful. Being relatively shallow, much of Erie freezes over part way through most winters putting an end to most of the lake effect snow that falls in the snow belt extending from the lake’s edge.

60. Nebraska’s largest city : OMAHA
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska. It is located on the Missouri River, about 10 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River When Nebraska was still a territory Omaha was its capital, but when Nebraska achieved statehood the capital was moved to the city of Lincoln.

62. Farrow of “Zelig” : MIA
Mia Farrow is an energetic, award-winning actress who really hasn’t looked back in her career since her first leading role, in “Rosemary’s Baby” back in 1968. Her on-screen celebrity is matched by the interest created by her personal life. Her first husband was Frank Sinatra, a wedding in 1966 that received a lot of attention partly due to the couple’s age difference (she was 21, he was 50). Her second husband was almost as famous, the magnificent musician André Previn. Farrow then moved in with Woody Allen, a relationship that famously fell apart when Farrow discovered that Allen was having a sexual relationship with Soon-Yi, one of her adopted daughters from the marriage with André Previn.

“Zelig” is a 1983 film by Woody Allen. “Zelig” tells the fictitious story, in documentary style, of Leonard Zelig (played by Allen) who has the gift of being able to change his appearance in order to better fit in with the company he keeps. He becomes famous as a “human chameleon”. By using archive footage, the film includes clever “cameos” by real figures from history (like Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Susan Sontag).

63. “The Little Foxes” playwright : LILLIAN HELLMAN
Lillian Hellman was a dramatist and screenwriter who was famously blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in the late forties and early fifties. Although Hellman was ostensibly married to playwright Arthur Kober, her name was linked romantically with author Dashiell Hammett. Hammett was also blacklisted by HUAC for decades.

66. Laundromat fixture : WASHING MACHINE
Laundromats are known as launderettes on the other side of the Atlantic. The term “laundromat” is now used generically, but it once was a trademark of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

Down
1. Ali G portrayer ___ Baron Cohen : SACHA
Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedian and comic actor from England. Baron Cohen is perhaps most famous for playing the characters Borat and Ali G on the small and large screens. I’m not a fan …

5. Project Apollo destination : MOON
The Apollo program is very much associated with President Kennedy, as he gave NASA the challenge to land men on the moon by the end of the sixties. However, the Apollo program was conceived during the Eisenhower administration as a follow-up to Project Mercury that put the first Americans in space.

8. “Back to the Future” hero Marty : MCFLY
In the fun 1985 movie “Back to the Future”, Marty McFly finds himself back in 1955, and is trying to get BACK to his FUTURE, which is 1985. But on the other hand, 1985 is really Marty’s present, before he went back in time. Why does time travel have to be so complicated …?

10. Yuletide quaff : NOG
It’s not really clear where the term “nog” (as in “eggnog”) comes from although it might derive from the word “noggin”, which was originally a small wooden cup that was long associated with alcoholic drinks.

“Quaff” is both a verb and a noun. One quaffs (takes a hearty drink) of a quaff (a hearty drink).

“Yule” celebrations coincide with Christmas, and the words “Christmas” and “Yule” have become synonymous in much of the world. However, Yule was originally a pagan festival celebrated by Germanic peoples. The name “Yule” comes from the Old Norse word “jol” that was used to describe the festival.

11. “I Love Lucy” role : ETHEL
In the hit television show “I Love Lucy”, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The Ricardos’ best friends were also their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The Mertz’s were played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance.

13. Fabric used for suits : SERGE
Serge is a type of twill fabric with diagonal ridges on both sides. The name “serge” comes from the Greek word for “silken”.

21. ___ vu : DEJA
“Déjà vu” is French for “already seen”.

29. Smitten : IN LOVE
“Smitten” is a past participle of “smite” meaning “to inflict a heavy blow”. We tend to use “smitten” to mean “affected by love, lovestruck”.

31. Arthur of tennis : ASHE
Arthur Ashe was a professional tennis player from Richmond, Virginia. In his youth, Ashe found himself having to travel great distances to play against Caucasian opponents due to the segregation that still existed in his home state. He was rewarded for his dedication by being selected for the 1963 US Davis Cup team, the first African American player to be so honored. Ashe continued to run into trouble because of his ethnicity though, and in 1968 was denied entry into South Africa to play in the South African Open. In 1979 Ashe suffered a heart attack and had bypass surgery, with follow-up surgery four years later during which he contracted HIV from blood transfusions. Ashe passed away in 1993 due to complications from AIDS. Shortly afterwards, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.

35. “In the ___ Colony” (Kafka story) : PENAL
Franz Kafka was born in 1883 in Prague, then part of Bohemia and today the capital of the Czech Republic. Kafka is known as one of the greatest novelists who worked in the German language, and even has an adjective named after him. Something that is “kafkaesque” is senseless, disorienting and may have menacing complexity. As it was for many great artists, Kafka’s fame came after his death when much of his work was published.

40. Eye piece : IRIS
The iris is the colored part of the eye with an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.

48. Component of natural gas : ETHANE
Ethane is the second largest component of natural gas, after methane. Ethane’s main use is in the production of ethylene, a compound that is widely used in the chemical industry.

49. Indira Gandhi International Airport site : DELHI
The Indira Gandhi International Airport that serves Delhi, India is the busiest airport in the country based on passenger traffic. The busiest Indian airport in terms of cargo traffic is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, which serves Mumbai.

51. Radioer’s “I’ll do it” : WILCO
In the world of radio telephony, “wilco” is short for “I understand and will comply”.

56. ___ acid : AMINO
Amino acids are essential to life in many ways, not least of which is their use as the building blocks of proteins.

61. Foppish neckwear : ASCOT
An Ascot tie is a horrible-looking (I think!) wide tie that narrows at the neck, which these days is only really worn at weddings. The tie takes its name from the Royal Ascot horse race at which punters still turn up in formal wear at Ascot Racecourse in England.

64. “___ in the Morning” (radio show) : IMUS
Don Imus’s syndicated radio show “Imus in the Morning” broadcasts from New York City. Imus has been described as a “shock jock”, a disc jockey who deliberately uses provocative language and humor that many would find offensive . I don’t like shock jocks …

67. Fruit drink brand : HI-C
Hi-C orange drink was created in 1946, and introduced to the market in 1948, initially in the south of the country. The name Hi-C was chosen to emphasize the high vitamin C content in the drink, as it contained added ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Earthquake-related : SEISMIC
8. Some Impressionist paintings : MANETS
14. You might put a fist through it : ARMHOLE
15. Things to wear : CLOTHES
17. Art supplies since 1903 : CRAYOLA CRAYONS
18. Looney Tunes character with a strong Southern accent : FOGHORN LEGHORN
19. Gluttonous sort : HOG
20. Requiring constant reassurance : NEEDY
22. As a result : ERGO
23. Belligerent son of Zeus : ARES
25. NNW’s opposite : SSE
26. Never-before-seen : ALL-NEW
28. “___ Last Bow” (Sherlock Holmes story) : HIS
30. Plain ___ : JANE
32. Egypt’s ___ Dam : ASWAN
35. Kindergartner’s stickum : PASTE
36. Flapper accessory : BOA
39. Director with three films on A.F.I.’s list of 100 greatest movies, all of them silent : CHARLIE CHAPLIN
41. “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” band : HERMAN’S HERMITS
43. Cowboy nickname : TEX
44. Give a speech : ORATE
46. Coupes and sedans : AUTOS
47. Repulsive : VILE
48. List-ending abbr. : ETC
49. Uses a divining rod : DOWSES
53. PC key : ALT
55. Unsubtle performers : HAMS
59. Southernmost Great Lake : ERIE
60. Nebraska’s largest city : OMAHA
62. Farrow of “Zelig” : MIA
63. “The Little Foxes” playwright : LILLIAN HELLMAN
66. Laundromat fixture : WASHING MACHINE
68. Make room for : INCLUDE
69. Sanctifies with oil : ANOINTS
70. Discards : TOSSES
71. Actual amount paid : NET COST

Down
1. Ali G portrayer ___ Baron Cohen : SACHA
2. Ballgame bobble : ERROR
3. Public relations concern : IMAGE
4. Reticent : SHY
5. Project Apollo destination : MOON
6. Reason for missing work : ILLNESS
7. Stops : CEASES
8. “Back to the Future” hero Marty : MCFLY
9. Lotion ingredient : ALOE
10. Yuletide quaff : NOG
11. “I Love Lucy” role : ETHEL
12. Barb in a bush : THORN
13. Fabric used for suits : SERGE
16. Fall in winter : SNOW
21. ___ vu : DEJA
24. Quick on the uptake : SHARP
26. Start the pot : ANTE
27. Ogle : LEER AT
29. Smitten : IN LOVE
31. Arthur of tennis : ASHE
32. Parliamentary output : ACT
33. Ship, to its captain : SHE
34. Stuff rubbed on skis : WAX
35. “In the ___ Colony” (Kafka story) : PENAL
36. Fisherman’s purchase : BAIT
37. Not fooled by : ONTO
38. Blockhead : ASS
40. Eye piece : IRIS
42. A lot : MUCH
45. Uniform-wearing group : TEAM
48. Component of natural gas : ETHANE
49. Indira Gandhi International Airport site : DELHI
50. Show the ropes to : ORIENT
51. Radioer’s “I’ll do it” : WILCO
52. Doesn’t stay on the shelves : SELLS
54. Badge wearer : LAWMAN
56. ___ acid : AMINO
57. Bowlful next to a restaurant’s cashier : MINTS
58. Most prudent, as advice : SAGEST
60. Dollar bills : ONES
61. Foppish neckwear : ASCOT
64. “___ in the Morning” (radio show) : IMUS
65. Fruit drink suffix : -ADE
67. Fruit drink brand : HI-C

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