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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
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CROSSWORD SETTER: Andrew Zhou
THEME: Notes … three squares in today’s grid are occupied by musical notes. Said musical notes are written with one name in one direction, and the alternate name in the other. In my grid, I’ve had to write in numbers, and these numbers represent:
1 = F-NATURAL (across) = E-SHARP (down)
2 = G-SHARP (across) = A-FLAT (down)
3 = E-FLAT (across) = D-SHARP (down)
These give us our themed answers:
16A. Home to many stuffed animals : MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
6D. High-tech home gadget company : THE SHARPER IMAGE65A. Dressed neatly and fashionably : LOOKING SHARP
53D. Suffer some tire damage : GET A FLAT66A. Gridiron scandal of 2015, informally : DEFLATEGATE
55D. One adept with a deck : CARD SHARP
We have a couple more answers that relate to the theme:
3D. One added to the staff? : MUSICAL NOTE
7D. Having the same pitch but written differently, in a score : ENHARMONIC
And, a kind blog reader pointed out that the Y-shape in black in the bottom-center of the grid is probably representing a tuning fork.
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 18m 06s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Police rounds : 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.
5. Anne, par exemple: Abbr. : STE
“Sainte” (ste.) is French for “saint”, when referring to a female.
The French for “for example” is “par exemple”.
13. ___ jazz (fusion genre) : ETHNO
I have no idea what ethno jazz is …
15. America’s Cup, for one : EWER
The America’s Cup is a trophy that has been awarded for yacht racing since 1851. It was first presented to the winner of a race around the Isle of Wight in England that was won by a schooner called “America”. The trophy was eventually renamed to “the America’s Cup” in honor of that first race winner.
19. Son-in-law of Muhammad : ALI
The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favoured the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.
20. Tar water, as seen in medieval medicine : CURE-ALL
The medieval cure-all known as “tar water” was a mixture of pine tar and water. Perhaps understandably, it fell out of favor after the Middle Ages, but became popular again in Victorian times.
21. Cargo unit : TON
“Cargo” is freight carried by some vehicle. The term comes into English via Spanish, ultimately deriving from the Latin “carricare” meaning “to load on a cart”.
27. Port city on the Red Sea : AQABA
The coastal city of Aqaba is the only seaport in the country of Jordan. The city lies at the very northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, which is off the Red Sea.
29. Virtual city dweller : SIM
“SimCity” is a very clever computer game. Players build and grow cities and societies by creating the conditions necessary for people (the Sims) to move in and thrive. “SimCity” was launched in 1989, and to this day it is consistently ranked as one of the greatest computer games of all time.
30. Porto-Novo is its capital : BENIN
Porto-Novo is the capital city of Benin in West Africa. Porto-Novo may be the nation’s capital but it isn’t the biggest city, and nor is it the most economically important. That honor goes to the city of Cotonou.
34. They may be stretches : LIMOS
The word “limousine” actually derives from the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes anyway …
36. Ruler preceding the Year of the Four Emperors : NERO
AD 69 was a year of civil war in ancient Rome. The unrest started with the death of emperor Nero in AD 68, after which followed the brief rule of Galba, of Otho, of Vitellius, and of Vespasian all in the same year. As a result, AD 69 became known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
37. Trunk attachment? : VINE
A vine might grow up the trunk of a tree.
38. First first family of Alaska : EGANS
Bill Egan was the first Governor of Alaska, serving from 1959 to 1966, and then again from 1970 to 1974. Egan was a native of Alaska, and one of only two governors who were born in the state. The second is Governor Bill Walker who took office in 2014.
39. Field of competition, for short? : ECON
Economics (econ.)
40. Early Japanese P.M. Hirobumi ___ : ITO
In the 1880s, Japanese leaders were concerned that their system of government was not defined well enough, leading to ambiguity about areas of responsibility and authority. One of the leaders at the time was Ito Hirobumi, and he took himself and his staff over to Europe to examine the systems of government across that continent, especially those of the British and German Empires. On returning to Japan he lobbied for and was successful in the adoption of a constitution for the country and a modern system of government. Ito became the country’s first Prime Minister in 1885.
41. Certain geek : FANGIRL
Fanboys (and fangirls) are fans, but fans of a very specific subject in a particular field. So, someone might be a fan of home computing, but an Intel fanboy would have an enthusiasm for CPUs made by Intel. A fanzine (also “zine”) is a fan publication with a very limited circulation, dealing with a very specific subject matter. Fanzines are usually desktop published and distributed electronically or as photocopies.
43. Japanese P.M. Shinzo ___ : ABE
Shinzo Abe first became Prime Minister of Japan in 2006, at which time he was the youngest person to hold the post since WWII and was the first PM born after the war. Abe was in office for less than a year, but was voted in again in 2012. Abe is usually characterized as a right-wing nationalist.
44. Petro-Canada unit : LITRE
On the other side of the Atlantic and in Canada we use the French spelling for measurements that originated in French, so “metre” for “meter” and “litre” for “liter”.
Petro-Canada started out life as a government-owned corporation in 1976. Petro-Canada is now a brand name of Suncor Energy.
46. Mo : SEC
The informal term “mo” is short for “moment”.
51. Mill runoff : SLAG
The better lead ores are processed in a blast furnace, to extract the metal. The “waste” from this process is called “slag”. Slag does contain some lead and it can be processed further in a “slag furnace” to extract the residual metal. Slag furnaces also accept poorer lead ores as a raw material.
54. Got nothing back from? : ACED
A tennis player who serves an ace doesn’t get the ball back.
56. Salade ___ : NICOISE
A Niçoise salad is known as a “salade Niçoise” in its native France, where it was named for the city of Nice in the south of the country. The original contains no cooked vegetables, but here in North America there are almost always included some boiled potatoes.
64. Nook, e.g. : E-READER
The Barnes & Noble electronic-book reader is called the Nook. The Nook accounts for 10-15% of electronic book readers in the world.
66. Gridiron scandal of 2015, informally : DEFLATEGATE
Deflategate is the name given to accusations that someone associated with the New England Patriots supplied under-inflated balls for NFL games to give Patriots an advantage. The NFL suspended Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for four games for his involvement, and fined the Patriots $1 million.
Down
1. ___ mater : ALMA
The literal translation for the Latin term “alma mater” is “nourishing mother”. “Alma mater” was used in Ancient Rome to refer to mother goddesses, and in Medieval Christianity the term was used to refer to the Virgin Mary. Nowadays, one’s alma mater is the school one attended, either high school or college, usually one’s last place of education.
4. Thomas Gray’s “The Bard,” e.g. : ODE
Thomas Gray was an 18th-century poet from England. Gray’s most famous work is his “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, which is the source of many oft-quoted phrases, including:
– Celestial fire
– Far from the Madding Crowd
– Kindred spirit
7. Having the same pitch but written differently, in a score : ENHARMONIC
Two notes are said to be “enharmonic” if they have the same pitch, but are named differently. For example:
— E-sharp is an alternative name for F-natural
— G-sharp is an alternative name for A-flat
— E-flat is an alternative name for D-sharp
11. ___ Mawr : BRYN
I used to live not far from Bryn-mawr (also “Brynmwar”) in Wales, the town with the highest elevation in the country. Appropriately enough, “bryn mawr” is Welsh for “big hill”. There is also a Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania (note the different capitalization) that is named after its Welsh counterpart. At the Pennsylvania location there’s a Bryn Mawr college, a private women’s school that was the first American university to offer graduate degrees to women.
13. Ypsilanti sch. whose initials name a bird : EMU
Eastern Michigan University (EMU) is a public university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, just outside Detroit. Despite the name “EMU”, the school’s athletes are called the “Eagles”.
14. Big U.S. import : OIL
The OPEC cartel (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) was formally established in 1960 and has been headquartered in Vienna since 1965. The US is actually the third largest oil producer in the world (after Russia and Saudi Arabia). One reason America isn’t in OPEC, even though we are a big producer, is that we import a lot more than we export. But we all probably knew that already …
17. Five-time Rose Bowl winner, for short : UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) gets more applications from students than any other university in the country. UCLA also has more students enrolled than any other university in the state.
The oldest of all the bowl games is the Rose Bowl and so has the nickname “The Granddaddy of Them All”. The first Rose Bowl game was played in 1902.
26. Kind of pool : GENE
The set of all genes in a particular population is known as the “gene pool”, a term coined in Russian by geneticist Aleksandr Sergeevich Serebrovskii in the 1920s. In general, the larger the gene pool the more diverse and robust the population.
31. Sci-fi classic featuring Dr. Susan Calvin : I, ROBOT
Isaac Asimov was a wonderful science fiction writer, and a professor of biochemistry. He was a favorite author as I was growing up and I must admit that some hero worship on my part led me to study and work as a biochemist for a short while early in my career. My favorite of his works is the collection of short stories called “I, Robot”. Asimov wrote three autobiographies, the last of which was called “I, Asimov”, which was published in 1994, two years after his death.
35. Map abbr. before 1991 : SSR
The former Soviet Union (USSR) was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the Tsar. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire, and was comprised of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs).
41. Film director from whose work the word “paparazzi” is derived : FELLINI
Paparazzi are photojournalists who specialize in taking candid shots of celebrities. The name comes from the famous Fellini movie, “La Dolce Vita”. One of the characters in the film is a news photographer named Paparazzo.
55. One adept with a deck : CARD SHARP
A “card sharp” is someone who is skilled and deceptive with playing cards, particularly when playing gambling games like poker. It seems that the term “card sharp” predates the related “card shark”, both of which have the same meaning.
57. Personally speaking, in a text : IMO
In my opinion (IMO)
58. Top of an outfit? : CEO
Chief executive officer (CEO)
60. Neighbor of Mont. : IDA
The US state of Idaho has a panhandle that extends northwards between Washington and Montana, right up to the border with Canada. Across that border is the Canadian province of British Columbia. Most of Idaho is in the Mountain Time Zone, but Northern Idaho (the Panhandle) is in the Pacific Time Zone.
62. M.A. hopeful’s hurdle : GRE
Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Police rounds : AMMO
5. Anne, par exemple: Abbr. : STE
8. Transfix : STAB
12. Hail : LAUD
13. ___ jazz (fusion genre) : ETHNO
15. America’s Cup, for one : EWER
16. Home to many stuffed animals : MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
19. Son-in-law of Muhammad : ALI
20. Tar water, as seen in medieval medicine : CURE-ALL
21. Cargo unit : TON
22. What the second letter of 17-Down stands for: Abbr. : CAL
24. Bark up the wrong tree : ERR
25. In times of yore : AGO
27. Port city on the Red Sea : AQABA
29. Virtual city dweller : SIM
30. Porto-Novo is its capital : BENIN
33. Having no legal force : NULL
34. They may be stretches : LIMOS
36. Ruler preceding the Year of the Four Emperors : NERO
37. Trunk attachment? : VINE
38. First first family of Alaska : EGANS
39. Field of competition, for short? : ECON
40. Early Japanese P.M. Hirobumi ___ : ITO
41. Certain geek : FANGIRL
43. Japanese P.M. Shinzo ___ : ABE
44. Petro-Canada unit : LITRE
46. Mo : SEC
47. Pointer : ARROW
49. Shade of blue : STEEL
50. Challenges : TESTS
51. Mill runoff : SLAG
54. Got nothing back from? : ACED
56. Salade ___ : NICOISE
59. Floating : WAFTING
63. “Seriously” : I MEAN IT
64. Nook, e.g. : E-READER
65. Dressed neatly and fashionably : LOOKING SHARP
66. Gridiron scandal of 2015, informally : DEFLATEGATE
Down
1. ___ mater : ALMA
2. Savage : MAUL
3. One added to the staff? : MUSICAL NOTE
4. Thomas Gray’s “The Bard,” e.g. : ODE
5. “50% off” and “Sorry, we’re closed” : STORE SIGNS
6. High-tech home gadget company : THE SHARPER IMAGE
7. Having the same pitch but written differently, in a score : ENHARMONIC
8. Fixed : SET
9. Dichromatic fad of the 1950s : TWO-TONE CARS
10. Aviation-related prefix : AERO-
11. ___ Mawr : BRYN
13. Ypsilanti sch. whose initials name a bird : EMU
14. Big U.S. import : OIL
17. Five-time Rose Bowl winner, for short : UCLA
18. Hunk : SLAB
23. Skillful : ABLE
26. Kind of pool : GENE
27. Blacksmiths’ needs : ANVILS
28. “Stop that!” : QUIT IT!
31. Sci-fi classic featuring Dr. Susan Calvin : I, ROBOT
32. “Haven’t heard a thing” : NO NEWS
34. Pastoral setting : LEA
35. Map abbr. before 1991 : SSR
41. Film director from whose work the word “paparazzi” is derived : FELLINI
42. Library penalty : LATE FEE
45. Let stand in water again : RESOAK
48. Sale item indicator : RED TAG
52. Explanatory words : AS IN
53. Suffer some tire damage : GET A FLAT
54. Wonderstruck : AWED
55. One adept with a deck : CARD SHARP
56. Zero : NIL
57. Personally speaking, in a text : IMO
58. Top of an outfit? : CEO
60. Neighbor of Mont. : IDA
61. Bring in : NET
62. M.A. hopeful’s hurdle : GRE
Doing the puzzle online, how do we enter the rebus answers so the server knows we got them correct?
I don't know. I've tried rebussing just the first letters of each answer and also rebussing the entire two answers across first, down second and down first , across second. This is extremely annoying and the rules for entering rebuses should be available easily.
Use the first letter of the "across" answer.
So, for this puzzle, input F in the first rebus intersection, G in the second, E in the third. I play on my iPhone and discovered through trial and error.
Very disappointing! I pay for the app and you post a puzzle that isn't workable on my iPad. Is it workable on any device?
2 down was not explained and does not make sense to me. Maul is a verb; I am not aware of savage being used as a verb.
20:54, no errors. A clever puzzle, challenging for those of us with a limited knowledge of music (but I eventually figured out the gimmick, so I'm happy … :-).
I wondered if there was a picture hidden in the grid, but missed the tuning-fork image. Perhaps the two things just above it are meant to suggest sound waves?
@Amanda … see "http://www.dictionary.com/browse/savage", which defines the verb "to savage".
My husband and I like to check our answers using the No. given at the top of the puzzle (i.e., 0307-16) is the number given for today's answers. We noticed the day before was 0302-16 and ordinarily, the next puzzle would be 0303-16 but today it used the numbers 0307-16. This, of course was incorrect but we looked up the one we thought it should be and it was correct. Might have been confusing for those who don't know what to look for.
28:21, no errors. Challenging puzzle. Agree with @Dave, I have zero knowledge of music, the 3 theme squares were the last ones to be filled in. This seemed to be one of those puzzles where one has to solve the puzzle to see the theme.
I finally gave up on this at about a 90% completion. Never did catch on to the theme until coming here. Those bottom-middle black squares could not possibly be a tuning fork except with a very vivid imagination. Strike that on the palm of your hand and I wonder what it would sound like. I kept thinking that that shape (a Greek letter or something?) Had something to do with it. Oh well.
IMO this was one of the best puzzles in recent times and a nice twist on the regular Thursday rebus. I was on the verge of giving up (at least temporarily) when the sharp/flat idea kicked in. Very clever construction and a great start to the day.
Sometimes the puzzles get a little too cutesy on Thursdays.
I agree with BenF that this was a very good puzzle, even though I generally despise the very idea of a rebus. I know just enough music theory to have caught onto the theme, but it took a lot of thinking to do that. Putting in ENHARMONIC was a stroke of genius. RESOAK was lame, as are, IMO, all the "RE" words that find their way into crosswords.