0218-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 18 Feb 16, Thursday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Long Island university : ADELPHI
Adelphi University is located in Garden City, New York on Long Island. The university started out as Adelphi Academy in Brooklyn in 1863. By 1929, the academy had moved to Garden City and was a woman’s college. Adelphi reverted to co-education after WWII when it admitted many students under the GI Bill.

7. Agenda starter : ITEM ONE
“Agenda” is a Latin word that translates as “things to be done”, coming from the verb “agere” meaning “to do”.

13. Well-read folks : LITERATI
Literati are men and women of letters, learned people. The Latin “literatus” means “lettered”.

17. Like some radiation : IONIZING
Ionizing radiation is the dangerous type of radiation. It has enough energy to eject free electrons from atoms it impinges, therefore creating ions. Ionizing radiation is often detected using Geiger counters.

18. Rihanna’s first #1 single : SOS
The singer Rihanna was born and grew up on the island of Barbados and moved to the US when she was 16-years-old to pursue a singing career. “Rihanna” is her stage name, as she was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty. The name “Rihanna” is derived from the Welsh name “Rhiannon”.

19. Windsurfing mecca : MAUI
Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian islands. Maui is sometimes called the “Valley Isle” as it is composed of two volcanoes to the northwest and southeast of the island, each with numerous beautiful valleys carved into them.

21. Fair-hiring inits. : EEO
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

22. Carlo in the film business : PONTI
The renowned Italian film producer Carlo Ponti was not quite as famous as his celebrity wife Sophia Loren. Ponti met Loren as a contestant in a beauty contest he was judging in 1950. Back then she was a budding young actress still using her real name, Sofia Lazzaro. The two married in 1957 even though divorce was illegal at the time in Italy, so Ponti was still married to his first wife.

23. Land of ancient Ephesus : IONIA
Ephesus was an Ancient Greek city on the Ionian coast in present-day Turkey. Ephesus was home to the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

25. England’s last Catholic king : JAMES II
King James II of England and Ireland was also King James VII of Scotland. James II ascended to the throne on the death of his brother Charles II. James was the last Roman Catholic monarch to rule over England, Scotland and Ireland. It was his religion that led to his fall from the throne when was forced to flee from England in 1688. James was replaced by his Protestant daughter and her husband, who ruled together as Mary II and William III (aka William II of Scotland).

28. Sign of stress : ITALICS
Italic type leans to the right. The style is known as “italic” because the stylized calligraphic form of writing originated in Italy, probably in the Vatican.

37. Verb-to-noun suffix : -ENCE
For example, differ/difference, prefer/preference, and insist/insistence.

38. Martial arts rank : DAN
The “dan” ranking system is used in several Japanese and Korean martial arts. The dan ranking indicates a level of proficiency, and often only applies to practitioners who have already earned a black belt.

43. Jack : KNAVE
We’ve been using “knave” to mean a cad since about 1200, and as an alternative name for the jack in a deck of cards since the mid-1500s. “Knave” comes from the Old English word “cnafa”, a “boy, male servant”.

46. Composer Rimsky-Korsakov : NIKOLAI
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was one of the great Russian composers from the Romantic Era. Rimsky-Korsakov’s most famous works are probably “Capriccio Espagnol” and “Scheherazade”. While he was composing, Rimsky-Korsakov spent much of his working life as an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy.

50. Don-turned-con : GOTTI
John Gotti was the boss of the Gambino crime family from 1985. Gotti was known as the Teflon Don and took over leadership of the family from Paul Castellano when he was gunned down, allegedly on Gotti’s orders. Gotti remained head of the New York family until he was sentenced to life in prison in 1992. Gotti died of throat cancer after ten years behind bars.

53. Johns : WCS
When I was growing up in Ireland, a “bathroom” was a room that had a bath and no toilet. The separate room with the commode was called “the toilet” or sometimes the W.C. (water closet). Apparently the term closet was used because in the 1800s when homeowners started installing toilets indoors they often displaced clothes and linens in a “closet”, as a closet was the right size to take the commode. It has been suggested that the British term “loo” comes from Waterloo (water-closet … water-loo), but no one seems to know for sure. Another suggestion is that the term comes from the card game of “lanterloo” in which the pot was called the loo!

Sir John Harington was an author and a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England. However, Harington is perhaps best remembered as the inventor of the flush toilet. Our slang term “john” meaning “toilet” is thought to be a reference to John Harington.

56. “Star Trek: T.N.G.” role : TROI
Deanna Troi is a character on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” who is played by the lovely Marina Sirtis. Sirtis is a naturalized American citizen and has what I would call a soft American accent on the show. However, she was born in the East End of London and has a natural accent off-stage that is more like that of a true Cockney.

57. Whit : IOTA
Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small, as iota is the smallest of all Greek letters.

Both “whit” and “fig” are used to describe a trivial amount, a mere trifle.

61. Food item that may be eaten on a dare : HOT CHILI
The spiciness or “heat” of a serving of chili is often designated by an unofficial scale ranging from one-alarm upwards.

63. Per se : IN ITSELF
“Per se” is a Latin phrase that translates as “by itself”. We use “per se” pretty literally, meaning “in itself, intrinsically”.

65. Modus ___ : OPERANDI
“Modus operandi” is the Latin for “mode of operating”, a term we’ve been using since the mid-1600s. It’s often used by the police when referring to the methods typically employed by a particular perpetrator of a crime, and is usually abbreviated to “M.O.”

67. Follower of the Bushido code : SAMURAI
“Bushido” is a Japanese word meaning “the way of the warrior”. It describes a code of moral principles observed by the samurai, and is roughly equivalent to the western concept of chivalry.

Down
2. Rat Pack nickname : DINO
Dean Martin was the stage name of singer and actor Dino Crocetti. Martin was famous for his numerous hit songs such as “That’s Amore”, “Volare” and Everybody Loves Somebody”, as well as his film career with Jerry Lewis. Off screen, Martin was a member of the famous “Rat Pack” as he was a great friend of Frank Sinatra. Martin was always associated with Las Vegas and when he passed away in 1995 the lights on the strip were dimmed in his honor.

The original Rat Pack from the fifties was a group of actors that centered on Humphrey Bogart, and included a young Frank Sinatra. Supposedly, Bogart’s wife, Lauren Bacall, christened them the Rat Pack after seeing them all return from one of their nights on the town in Las Vegas. The sixties Rat Pack was a reincarnation of the fifties version, with the core group of actors being Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin (Dino), Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.

3. Airport data, for short : ETDS
Estimated time of departure (ETD)

4. French article : LES
The definite article in French can be “le” (with masculine nouns), “la” (with feminine nouns), and “les” (with plurals of either gender).

5. Trailers, e.g. : PROMOS
The term “trailer” came about in the film industry as advertisements for upcoming features were originally shown at the end of a movie being screened. This practise quickly fell out of favor as movie patrons usually left without paying much attention to the trailers. So, the trailers were moved to the beginning of the show, and the term “trailer” persisted.

6. Sampled the sauce : HAD A NIP
Had a nip, sampled the sauce, took some of the booze.

7. Flat population? : TENANTS
“Flat” is a word more commonly used in the British Isles than here. A flat is basically an apartment or condominium. The word “flat” is Scottish in origin, in which language it meant a “floor in a house”.

8. Iago’s wife : EMILIA
Emilia and Iago are characters in William Shakespeare’s play “Othello”. Emilia and Iago are a married couple, although Iago kills Emilia late in the play.

9. ___ Kanata, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” character : MAZ
In the 2015 film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, Maz Kanata is a CGI-generated character. Kanata is the manager of an interstellar tavern in a castle on the planet Takodana. She is getting on in years, and is over a thousand years old.

10. “The Grapes of Wrath” migrant : OKIE
“Okies” was a derogatory term used during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s for farming families who migrated from Oklahoma (hence the name), Arkansas, Kansas and Texas in search of agricultural jobs in California. The road used by many of these migrant families was Route 66, which is also called “Mother Road”.

John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” is set during the Great Depression. The novel tells the story of the Joad family from Oklahoma, farmers who had to leave their home and head for California due to economic hardship.

11. Rarest of the 50 state birds : NENE
The bird called a nene is a native of Hawaii, and is also known as the Hawaiian goose. The name “nene” is imitative of its call. When Captain Cook landed on the islands in 1778, there were 25,000 nene living there. By 1950, the number was reduced by hunting to just 30 birds. Conservation efforts in recent years have been somewhat successful.

12. So : ERGO
“Ergo” is the Latin word for “hence, therefore”.

14. Ballyhoo : TOUT
To ballyhoo is to publicize sensationally, to tout.

“Ballyhoo”, meaning hype or publicity, was originally circus slang dating back to the early 1900s. No one really knows where the term comes from, but I can tell you there is a village in Co. Cork in Ireland called Ballyhooly!

15. First name in fashion : COCO
Coco Chanel was a French fashion designer. Perhaps because I am a man, clothes design is not my forte. However, if I had to pick a designer whose clothes I really liked, it would be Chanel. She had a way of creating simpler designs that looked so elegant on a woman.

24. Bitter ___ : ALE
What’s known as “bitter ale” in the UK corresponds to “pale ale” in the US. I’m a fan …

25. Will Smith’s actor son : JADEN
Child actor Jaden Smith is the son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. I think I’ve only seen Jaden play one role on the screen, as the title character in the 2010 remake of “The Karate Kid”. I must say, that is a very entertaining film and young Jaden did a great job.

26. Space Invaders maker : ATARI
Space Invaders is one of my favorite video games, a classic from the good old days (not that I play video games anymore). When Space Invaders was first released in video arcades in Japan in 1978, it was so popular that it caused a shortage of 100-yen coins.

27. Eastern European capital : MINSK
Minsk is the capital of Belarus, formerly known as the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. One of Minsk’s more infamous residents was Lee Harvey Oswald who lived there from 1960 to 1962.

30. Sharing mail with, in a way : CCING
I wonder do the kids of today know that “cc” stands for carbon copy, and do they have any idea what a carbon copy was? Do you remember how messy carbon paper was to handle?

31. Transition : SEGUE
A “segue” is a transition from one topic to the next. “Segue” is an Italian word that literally means “now follows”. It was first used in musical scores directing the performer to play into the next movement without a break.

34. First name in horror : LON
Lon Chaney, Sr. played a lot of crazed-looking characters in the days of silent movies. He did much of his own make-up work, developing the grotesque appearances that became his trademark, and earning himself the nickname “the man of a thousand faces”. Most famous were his portrayals of the title characters in the films “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925).

36. Halloween follower: Abbr. : NOV
All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows Eve, better known by the Scottish term, “Halloween”.

42. Deck (out) : TOG
The verb “tog”, meaning to dress up, comes from the Latin “toga”, the garment worn in Ancient Rome. “Tog” can be use as an informal word for a coat or a cloak. Back in Ireland, togs are what we call swimming shorts.

43. Devastating name in 2005 news : KATRINA
2005’s Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest hurricane in US history since 1928, with over 1200 people perishing in the event itself and in the subsequent flooding.

44. There are two Oscars for it : EDITING
There is an Academy Award for Best Film Editing, and one for Best Sound Editing.

45. “___ Men” : MAD
“Mad Men” is the flagship show on the AMC television channel. Set in the sixties, it’s all about an advertising agency located on Madison Avenue in New York (hence the title). “Mad Men” became the first show created by a basic cable channel to win an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.

47. Mandrake the Magician’s sidekick : LOTHAR
“Mandrake the Magician” is a comic strip that was created by Lee Falk in 1934. Some folks hold that Mandrake was the comic world’s first superhero. Mandrake lives in a high-tech home called Xanadu, and fights crime with his best friend Lothar.

54. Lola’s club, in brief : COPA
The Copacabana of song is the Copacabana nightclub in New York City (which is also the subject of the Frank Sinatra song “Meet Me at the Copa”). The Copa opened in 1940 and is still going today although it is struggling. The club had to move due to impending construction and is now “sharing” a location with the Columbus 72 nightclub. “Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl …”

59. “Night” memoirist 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.

60. New newts : EFTS
Newts wouldn’t be my favorite animals. They are found all over the world living on land or in water depending on the species, but always associated with water even if it is only for breeding. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental stages during their lives. They start off as larvae in water, fertilized eggs that often cling to aquatic plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, the first developmental form of the newt. After living some months as tadpoles swimming around in the water, they undergo another metamorphosis, sprouting legs and replacing their external gills with lungs. At this juvenile stage they are known as efts, and leave the water to live on land. A more gradual transition takes place then, as the eft takes on the lizard-like appearance of the adult newt.

62. Grand ___ (wine phrase) : CRU
“Cru” is a term used in the French wine industry that means “growth place”. So, “cru” is the name of the location where the grapes are grown, as opposed to the name of a specific vineyard. The terms “premier cru” and “grand cru” are also used, but the usage depends on the specific wine region. Generally it is a classification awarded to specific vineyards denoting their potential for producing great wines. “Grand cru” is reserved for the very best vineyards, with “premier cru” the level just below.

64. Title of respect that’s an anagram of another title of respect : SRI
“Sri” is an anagram of “sir”.

“Sri” is a title of respect for a male in India.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Long Island university : ADELPHI
7. Agenda starter : ITEM ONE
13. Well-read folks : LITERATI
15. Cube source : ICEMAKER
16. “Me too” : AND SO DO I
17. Like some radiation : IONIZING
18. Rihanna’s first #1 single : SOS
19. Windsurfing mecca : MAUI
20. Suffix with class : -ICAL
21. Fair-hiring inits. : EEO
22. Carlo in the film business : PONTI
23. Land of ancient Ephesus : IONIA
25. England’s last Catholic king : JAMES II
28. Sign of stress : ITALICS
32. Quarreling : AT IT
33. Vague reason for a social turndown : PLANS
37. Verb-to-noun suffix : -ENCE
38. Martial arts rank : DAN
39. “So THAT’S the trick here!” : OHO!
40. Popular : BIG
41. At one time, once : ERST
43. Jack : KNAVE
45. It may start with “Starters” : MENU
46. Composer Rimsky-Korsakov : NIKOLAI
48. One might get you in : ID BADGE
50. Don-turned-con : GOTTI
52. Storyteller’s admission : I LIED
53. Johns : WCS
56. “Star Trek: T.N.G.” role : TROI
57. Whit : IOTA
58. Charge : FEE
61. Food item that may be eaten on a dare : HOT CHILI
63. Per se : IN ITSELF
65. Modus ___ : OPERANDI
66. “Forget they said that” : IGNORE IT
67. Follower of the Bushido code : SAMURAI
68. Lights : IGNITES

Down
1. “I wish it weren’t so” : ALAS
2. Rat Pack nickname : DINO
3. Airport data, for short : ETDS
4. French article : LES
5. Trailers, e.g. : PROMOS
6. Sampled the sauce : HAD A NIP
7. Flat population? : TENANTS
8. Iago’s wife : EMILIA
9. ___ Kanata, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” character : MAZ
10. “The Grapes of Wrath” migrant : OKIE
11. Rarest of the 50 state birds : NENE
12. So : ERGO
14. Ballyhoo : TOUT
15. First name in fashion : COCO
22. Stroke : PET
24. Bitter ___ : ALE
25. Will Smith’s actor son : JADEN
26. Space Invaders maker : ATARI
27. Eastern European capital : MINSK
29. Laid up, say : IN BED
30. Sharing mail with, in a way : CCING
31. Transition : SEGUE
34. First name in horror : LON
35. “Now I see!” : AHA!
36. Halloween follower: Abbr. : NOV
42. Deck (out) : TOG
43. Devastating name in 2005 news : KATRINA
44. There are two Oscars for it : EDITING
45. “___ Men” : MAD
47. Mandrake the Magician’s sidekick : LOTHAR
49. Pummel : BEAT ON
51. Squealed : TOLD
52. Past the baseline, in tennis : LONG
53. “… but ___ counting?” : WHO’S
54. Lola’s club, in brief : COPA
55. Hold back : STEM
58. Stocking stuffers : FEET
59. “Night” memoirist Wiesel : ELIE
60. New newts : EFTS
62. Grand ___ (wine phrase) : CRU
64. Title of respect that’s an anagram of another title of respect : SRI

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