0704-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 4 Jul 16, Monday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Sam who directed “Spider-Man” : RAIMI
Sam Raimi is a very successful director and producer, responsible for the “Spider-Man” series of films among others, and TV series’ such as “Xena: Warrior Princess”.

6. Greek “Z” : ZETA
Zeta is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a precursor of our Roman letter Z. The word “zeta” is also the ancestor of the name “zed”, which became “zee”, the pronunciation that we use here in the US.

10. ___ of Fame : HALL
The first “Hall of Fame” established in the US was the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, an outdoor sculptor gallery located in the grounds of Bronx Community College in New York City. Completed in 1900, it is an open-air colonnade featuring the bronze busts of renowned Americans such as President George Washington, author Henry David Thoreau, musician John Philip Sousa and baseball legend Jackie Robinson. The Hall of Fame of Great Americans was inspired by the Ruhmeshalle (“Hall of Fame” in German) located in Munich, German that exhibits busts of important people from Bavaria.

16. Annual theater award : OBIE
The Obies are the “Off-Broadway Theater Awards”. The Obies are presented annually and the recipients are chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper.

17. Campaign trail : STUMP
“To stump” can mean to go on a speaking tour during a political campaign. This peculiarly American term dates back to the 19th century. Back then a “stump speech” was an address given by someone standing on a large tree stump that provided a convenient perch to help the speaker get his or her message across to the crowd.

18. When repeated, a Stooge’s laugh : NYUK!
If you’ve seen a few of the films starring “The Three Stooges” you’ll have noticed that the line up changed over the years. The original trio was made up of Moe and Shemp Howard (two brothers) and Larry Fine (a good friend of the Howards). This line up was usually known as “Moe, Larry and Shemp”. Then Curly Howard replaced his brother when Shemp quit the act, creating the most famous trio, “Moe, Larry And Curly”. Shemp returned when Curly had a debilitating stroke in 1946, and Shemp stayed with the troupe until he died in 1955. Shemp was replaced by Joe Besser, and then “Curly-Joe” DeRita. When Larry Fine had a stroke in 1970, it effectively marked the end of the act.

19. What can be a real drag? : TOKE
“Toke” is a slang term for a puff on a marijuana cigarette or on a pipe containing the drug.

20. Longtime F.B.I. chief : J EDGAR HOOVER
J. Edgar Hoover was the controversial director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from the time of its founding in 1935 until his death in 1972. While being given the credit for establishing the FBI as a first-class crime-fighting organization, he was also criticized by many for exceeding his authority. In particular, he came into conflict with Presidents Truman and Kennedy, both of whom considered dismissing him. Neither took that step however, fearing the political fallout.

23. German author who wrote “Faust” : GOETHE
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer (among other things!). Goethe’s most famous work is probably his play “Faust”. This epic work was published in parts, starting in 1808. The work was only published in toto after his death in 1832.

25. Demeanors : MIENS
One’s “mien” is one’s bearing or manner. “Mien” shares the same etymological root as our word “demeanor”.

26. Van for moving day, maybe : U-HAUL RENTAL
The U-Haul company was started by married couple Leonard Shoen and Anna Mary Carty in Ridgefield, Washington in 1945. The Shoens used $5,000 of seed money to build trailers in their garage, and then cleverly recruited gas station owners as franchisees with whom they would split the rental revenue. There are now about 15,000 U-Haul dealers across the country.

30. Zodiac divisions : SIGNS
Most of the signs of the classical Greek zodiac are animals. This fact relates to the etymology of the term “zodiac”, which comes from the Greek “zodiakos kyklos”, literally “circle of animals”.

31. Herman who ran for the 2012 Republican nomination : CAIN
Herman Cain is a Tea Party activist from Georgia was ran for the Republican nomination in the US presidential race of 2012. Famously, Cain proposed his 9-9-9 Plan for taxation during the campaign. His idea was to replace all payroll, capital gains and estate taxes with a simple 9% business transaction tax, a 9% personal income tax, and a 9% federal sales tax.

36. Drug used to treat Parkinson’s : L-DOPA
The name of the drug L-3,4-DihydrOxyPhenylAlanine can be shortened, thankfully, to L-DOPA. Swedish scientist Arvid Carlsson won a Nobel Prize for showing that L-DOPA could be used to reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s Syndrome.

40. Street likely to have the most stoplights : MAIN
The most common street name in the US is “Second Street”. “First Street” comes in only at number three, and this is because many cities and towns forego the use of “First” and instead go with “Main” or something more historical in nature. “Elm Street” appears on the list at number fifteen.

41. Watch that “takes a licking and keeps on ticking” : TIMEX
The Timex Group, the manufacturer of watches, evolved from the Waterbury Clock Company that was founded in 1854 in Waterbury, Connecticut. The company achieved tremendous success in the early sixties largely due to an innovative marketing campaign. Advertisements featured the memorable tagline “Timex – Takes a licking and keeps on ticking”. In 1962, one out of every three watches sold in the US was a Timex.

42. Male characteristic : Y CHROMOSOME
In most mammalian species, including man, females have two identical sex chromosomes (XX) and males two distinct sex chromosomes (XY). As a result it is the males who determine the sex of the offspring. However, in birds the opposite is true and so females determine the sex of the chicks.

49. Holiday suggested by the starts of 20-, 26-, 36- and 42-Across, literally : FOURTH OF JULY
On 11 June 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five people to draft a declaration of independence. Included in the five were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Adams persuaded the other committee members to give Jefferson the task of writing the first draft. A resolution of independence was passed by the Congress on 2 Jul 1776. The final draft of the declaration was approved by the Congress two days later, on July 4th. John Adams wrote a letter to his wife that included an assertion that July 2nd (the date of the resolution of independence) would become a great American holiday. Of course Adams was wrong, and it was actually the date the Declaration of Independence was finalized that came to be celebrated annually.

54. Guthrie who sang at Woodstock : ARLO
Arlo Guthrie is the son of Woody Guthrie. Both father and son are renowned for their singing of protest songs about social injustice. Arlo is most famous for his epic “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, a song that lasts a full 18m 34s. In the song Guthrie tells how, after being drafted, he was rejected for service in the Vietnam War based on his criminal record. He had only one incident on his public record, a Thanksgiving Day arrest for littering and being a public nuisance when he was 18-years-old.

55. N.B.A. Hall-of-Famer Thomas : ISIAH
Isiah Thomas played his whole professional basketball-playing career with the Detroit Pistons, and he is now the head coach with Florida International University’s Golden Panthers. When you’re out shopping for popcorn, keep an eye out for the Dale & Thomas brand, as it’s co-owned by Isiah Thomas.

59. Caesar’s accusation to Brutus : ET TU
It was Shakespeare who popularized the words “Et tu, Brute?” (And you, Brutus?), in his play “Julius Caesar”, although the phrase had been around long before he penned his drama. It’s not known what Julius Caesar actually said in real life just before he was assassinated on the steps of the Senate in Rome.

60. Russia’s Nicholas I or II : CZAR
The term czar (also tsar) is a Slavic word that was first used as a title by Simeon I of Bulgaria in 913 AD. “Czar” is derived from the word “Caesar”, which was synonymous with “emperor” at that time.

There were only two tsars of Russia named Nicholas. Nicholas I was Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855. Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia and ruled from 1894 until he abdicated in 1917, and was executed with his family in 1918.

61. 1/16 of a pound : OUNCE
Our term “ounce” comes from the Latin “uncia”, which was 1/12 of a “libra”, the Roman “pound”.

62. The first “R” of R&R : REST
Rest and relaxation/recuperation (R&R)

63. Keystone ___ of early film : KOPS
The Keystone Cops (sometimes “Keystone Kops”) were a band of madcap policemen characters who appeared in silent movies. A 1914 short film called “A Thief Catcher” that was believed lost was rediscovered in 2010. “A Thief Catcher” featured the magnificent Charlie Chaplin in an early role as a Keystone Cop.

Down
1. Traveling homes, for short : RVS
Recreational vehicle (RV)

2. With 38-Across, 1920s-’30s design style : ART …
(38A. See 2-Down : … DECO)
Art deco is the name given to a style of design and architecture of the 1920s that actually had its roots in Belgium and then spread throughout Europe before arriving in North America. Celebrated examples of art deco architecture are the magnificent Chrysler Building in New York City completed in 1930, and the GE Building that sits in the middle of Rockefeller Center also in New York City, with the address of “30 Rock”.

3. Payment-to-come-later note : IOU
I owe you (IOU)

4. Much-ridiculed pants for women : MOM JEANS
“Mom jeans” and “dad jeans” are not-so-nice names for high-waisted jeans, usually worn by older women and men.

6. “Oh, snap!” elicitor : ZINGER
Oh snap is some more street talk. It is used as a retort to someone who makes a verbal dig at you. It was apparently popularized by Tracy Morgan on “Saturday Night Live”.

7. Writer/singer of an Elvish song for “The Lord of the Rings” : ENYA
Enya co-wrote and performed a song titled “Aníron” for “The Lord of the Rings” series of films. The song’s lyrics are written in the Elvish language of Sindarin, a fictional language that was created by author J.R.R. Tolkien.

9. Symbol of life in ancient Egypt : ANKH
The ankh was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character for “eternal life”. The ankh wasn’t just used in inscriptions but was often fashioned into amulets and as surrounds for mirrors (perhaps symbolizing a view into another world).

13. Satyrs’ looks : LEERS
The satyrs of Greek mythology came with a very high sex drive. They are the “rude” male subjects drawn on the side of old Greek vases. The nubile maidens known as nymphs were often an object of attention for the satyrs.

21. FedEx competitor : DHL
Back in the sixties, Larry Hillblom was making pocket money as a Berkeley law student by doing courier runs between San Francisco and Los Angeles. After law school, Hillblom decided to parlay his experience into his own business and set up a courier service flying bills of lading ahead of freight from San Francisco to Honolulu. He brought in two buddies, Adrian Dalsey and Robert Lynn, as partners and the three were soon hopping on and off commercial flights and gradually making more and more money. And DHL was born … D (for Dalsey) H (for Hillblom) L (for Lynn).

22. Arabian Peninsula sultanate : OMAN
The Arabian Peninsula is shaped like a boot, with the Sultanate of Oman occupying the toe of that boot.

29. ___ Maria (coffee liqueur) : TIA
Tia Maria is a coffee liqueur that was invented just after WWII in Jamaica, using Jamaican coffee beans, Jamaican rum, vanilla and sugar. The drink’s name translates to “Aunt Maria”.

30. Highest roll of a die : SIX
The numbers on dice are arranged so that the opposite faces add up to seven. Given this arrangement, the numbers 1, 2 and 3 all meet at a common vertex. There are two ways of arranging the 1, 2 and 3 around the common vertex, a so called right-handed die (clockwise 1-2-3) or a left-handed die (counterclockwise 1-2-3). Traditionally, dice used in Western cultures are right-handed, whereas Chinese dice are left-handed. Quite interesting …

32. Helpful theorem, in math : LEMMA
A “lemma” is a helping theorem, a subsidiary proposition that helps prove some other proposition.

33. Slushy drinks with a polar bear mascot : ICEES
Slush Puppie and ICEE are brands of frozen, slushy drinks. Ostensibly competing brands, ICEE company now owns the Slush Puppie brand.

34. Curse : POX
A pox was any of the diseases that produced “pocks” on the skin, eruptive pustules. The pox might be smallpox or chickenpox perhaps. But, when cursing someone by saying “a pox on you” the reference was to the “great pox” … syphilis.

37. Boardroom V.I.P.: Abbr. : DIR
Director (dir.)

38. Greek god of wine : DIONYSUS
Dionysus was the party animal of Greek mythology. Dionysus was the god of the wine, ritual madness and ecstasy! The Roman name for Dionysus was Bacchus.

40. Exam for future docs : MCAT
Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)

41. “The Waste Land” poet : TS ELIOT
Eliot wrote his poem called “The Waste Land” in 1922. “The Waste Land” opens with the famous line, “April is the cruellest month …”.

42. Ump’s cry at home : YER OUT!
Back in the 15th century, “an umpire” was referred to as “a noumpere”, which was misheard and hence causing the dropping of the initial letter N. The term “noumpere” came for Old French “nonper” meaning “not even, odd number”. The idea was that the original umpire was a third person called on to arbitrate between two, providing that “odd number” needed to decide the dispute.

44. Sch. in Tulsa, Okla. : ORU
Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ORU was founded relatively recently, in 1963 by the late televangelist Oral Roberts. The campus includes a Prayer Tower at its center, a spectacular glass and steel structure designed by architect Frank Wallace. The tower includes an observation deck, and is a popular tourist attraction. The school’s sports teams are known as the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

46. Rich dessert : TORTE
A torte is a type of cake made primarily with eggs, sugar and ground nuts (but no flour).

50. Cabbie : HACK
Hackney is a location in London, and it probably gave it’s name to a “hackney”, an ordinary type of horse around 1300. By 1700 a “hackney” was a person hired to do routine work, and “hackneyed” meant “kept for hire”. This morphed into a hackney carriage, a carriage or car for hire, and into “hack”, a slang term for a taxi driver or cab.

51. Rice-shaped pasta : ORZO
Orzo is pasta that has been formed into granular shapes, much like barley. And indeed, “orzo” is the Italian word for “barley”.

52. Kerfuffle : FLAP
“Kerfuffle” comes from the Scottish “curfuffle”, with both words meaning “disruption”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Sam who directed “Spider-Man” : RAIMI
6. Greek “Z” : ZETA
10. ___ of Fame : HALL
14. Revved engine sound : VROOM!
15. Privy to : IN ON
16. Annual theater award : OBIE
17. Campaign trail : STUMP
18. When repeated, a Stooge’s laugh : NYUK!
19. What can be a real drag? : TOKE
20. Longtime F.B.I. chief : J EDGAR HOOVER
23. German author who wrote “Faust” : GOETHE
25. Demeanors : MIENS
26. Van for moving day, maybe : U-HAUL RENTAL
30. Zodiac divisions : SIGNS
31. Herman who ran for the 2012 Republican nomination : CAIN
32. Back talk : LIP
35. They’re exchanged at the altar : I DOS
36. Drug used to treat Parkinson’s : L-DOPA
38. See 2-Down : … DECO
39. Crossed (out) : XED
40. Street likely to have the most stoplights : MAIN
41. Watch that “takes a licking and keeps on ticking” : TIMEX
42. Male characteristic : Y CHROMOSOME
45. Perplexed : AT SEA
48. Skybox locales : ARENAS
49. Holiday suggested by the starts of 20-, 26-, 36- and 42-Across, literally : FOURTH OF JULY
53. Threesome : TRIO
54. Guthrie who sang at Woodstock : ARLO
55. N.B.A. Hall-of-Famer Thomas : ISIAH
59. Caesar’s accusation to Brutus : ET TU
60. Russia’s Nicholas I or II : CZAR
61. 1/16 of a pound : OUNCE
62. The first “R” of R&R : REST
63. Keystone ___ of early film : KOPS
64. Clucked in disapproval : TSKED

Down
1. Traveling homes, for short : RVS
2. With 38-Across, 1920s-’30s design style : ART …
3. Payment-to-come-later note : IOU
4. Much-ridiculed pants for women : MOM JEANS
5. Instigation : IMPETUS
6. “Oh, snap!” elicitor : ZINGER
7. Writer/singer of an Elvish song for “The Lord of the Rings” : ENYA
8. With 23-Down, leader of a sightseers’ group : TOUR
9. Symbol of life in ancient Egypt : ANKH
10. Necessity for deep-frying : HOT OIL
11. On top of : ABOVE
12. Make an analogy with, with “to” : LIKEN
13. Satyrs’ looks : LEERS
21. FedEx competitor : DHL
22. Arabian Peninsula sultanate : OMAN
23. See 8-Down : GUIDE
24. “This is terrible!” : OH GOD!
27. Low-priced, in brand names : ECONO
28. Short snooze : NAP
29. ___ Maria (coffee liqueur) : TIA
30. Highest roll of a die : SIX
32. Helpful theorem, in math : LEMMA
33. Slushy drinks with a polar bear mascot : ICEES
34. Curse : POX
36. “Well, ___-di-dah!” : LAH
37. Boardroom V.I.P.: Abbr. : DIR
38. Greek god of wine : DIONYSUS
40. Exam for future docs : MCAT
41. “The Waste Land” poet : TS ELIOT
42. Ump’s cry at home : YER OUT!
43. College students’ declarations : MAJORS
44. Sch. in Tulsa, Okla. : ORU
45. Pursuing : AFTER
46. Rich dessert : TORTE
47. ♠, ♥, ♦ and ♣ : SUITS
50. Cabbie : HACK
51. Rice-shaped pasta : ORZO
52. Kerfuffle : FLAP
56. Newspaper coverage, informally : INK
57. Expert : ACE
58. “If only ___ listened …” : HE’D

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