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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
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CROSSWORD SETTER: Jules Markey
THEME: Treasure Map
The starts of our themed answers today give us a phonetic instruction about where to find the TREASURE on the MAP. We also have some apt pirate references scattered throughout the puzzle:
59A. Pirate’s guide that’s hinted at phonetically by the starts of 17-, 29- and 44-Across : TREASURE MAP
17A. Retroactively, at law : EX POST FACTO (X)
29A. Red giants : MARX AND LENIN (marks)
44A. How Ivan the Terrible ruled : DESPOTICALLY (the spot)67A. Pirate’s interjection : ARRR!
11D. Pirate : BUCCANEER
31D. What may be pictured on a 59-Across : ISLE
35D. Pirate, informally : OLD SEADOG
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 7m 52s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Jazz legend ___ James : ETTA
Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.
11. “One no-trump,” e.g. : BID
That would be in the card game called bridge.
14. Indian bread : NAAN
Naan (also “nan”) bread is very popular in Indian restaurants, as well as in other West, Central and South Asian cuisines. Indian Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.
15. Funnyman Carl : REINER
The multi-talented Carl Reiner is from the Bronx, New York. Reiner was married to singer Estelle Roberts. You might remember Roberts from the film “When Harry Met Sally” that was directed by Carl’s son, Rob Reiner. Estelle was the woman in the deli who said the famous line “ I’ll have what’s she’s having” on seeing how excited Meg Ryan apparently was with her sandwich.
16. Hawaiian instrument, for short : UKE
The ukulele (“uke”) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.
17. Retroactively, at law : EX POST FACTO
“Ex post facto” is a Latin term that we use in English to mean “subsequently, retrospectively”. A ex post facto law is one that retroactively changes the legal status of actions that were committed prior to the law being acted. The term “ex post facto” translates literally as “from after the action”.
19. Animation frame : CEL
In the world of animation, a cel is a transparent sheet on which objects and characters are drawn. In the first half of the 20th century the sheet was actually made of celluloid, giving the “cel” its name.
21. Email chuckle : LOL
Laugh out loud (LOL, in text-speak)
24. Football units: Abbr. : YDS
Yard (yd.)
27. Lady in Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene” : IRENA
“The Faerie Queene” is an epic poem by Edmund Spenser, one of the longest poems written in the English language.
29. Red giants : MARX AND LENIN
Karl Marx was a German philosopher and revolutionary who helped develop the principles of modern communism and socialism. Marx argued that feudal society created internal strife due to class inequalities which led to its destruction and replacement by capitalism. He further argued that the inequalities created in a capitalist society create tensions that will also lead to its self-destruction. His thesis was that the inevitable replacement of capitalism was a classless (and stateless) society, which he called pure communism.
“Lenin” wasn’t the birth name of the Russian leader. He was born Vladimir Ulyanov, and originally took the name Lenin as a pen name.
33. Women, impolitely : BROADS
The impolite slang term “broad” arose in the early 1900s. Because the term was deemed so offensive, the track and field event formerly known as the “broad jump” was changed to the “long jump” in the mid-sixties.
37. City between Tempe and Apache Junction : MESA
The city of Mesa, Arizona is in effect a suburb of Phoenix. The original settlement of non-Native Americans was founded by Daniel Webster Jones who led a Mormon group from St. George, Utah. The settlement was first called Jonesville, then Fort Utah and eventually Lehi. A second group of Mormons arrived and formed a settlement on top of a nearby mesa. It was this use of a mesa that eventually gave the city its current name.
39. @@@ : ATS
The “at symbol” (@) originated in the commercial word, as shorthand for “each at, per” and similar phrases. I suppose we see the symbol most commonly these days as part of all email addresses.
40. Went letter by letter, British-style : SPELT
Both “spelled” and “spelt” are valid past tenses for the verb “to spell”, although the former is way more common on this side of the Atlantic. I grew up with “spelt” on the other side of the pond, but its usage is rapidly being replaced by “spelled” in the UK and Ireland.
42. Late boxing great : ALI
The boxer Muhammad Ali was classified as ineligible for the draft in 1964 due to poor writing and spelling skills. The standards were lowered in 1965, and Ali was notified in 1966 that he was eligible to serve in the US Armed Forces. When notified as such, Ali publicly declared himself a conscientious objector on religious grounds. Ali was in fact drafted and refused to serve in 1967. At that point his boxing license was suspended and he was stripped of his World Heavyweight title. Ali was convicted for refusing to to report for induction during the Vietnam War. Ultimately, the US Supreme Court reversed the decision to convict on the grounds that the government had failed to properly specify why Ali’s application for conscientious objector classification had been denied.
43. Long-winged seabird : PETREL
The migratory seabird called the petrel is known for hovering just above the waves, with feet barely touching the water. This behavior gives rise the name “petrel” after the Christian Saint Peter, as Peter was said to have walked on the water.
44. How Ivan the Terrible ruled : DESPOTICALLY
A “despot” is a ruler with absolute power, often one who wields that power oppressively. “Despot” is an old French term from the 14th century, ultimately derived from the Greek “despotes” meaning “master of a household, absolute ruler”.
The Grand Prince of Moscow Ivan IV became known as Ivan the Terrible. The name “terrible” is a translation from Russian, and perhaps creates the wrong impression about the man. The Russian word is “Grozny”, which is more akin to “strict” and “powerful” rather than “cruel” or “abominable”.
47. ___ Court (district in London) :
Earl’s Court is a London district that used to be famous as the home to the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, a very expansive indoor arena that closed in 2014.
48. Rank above maj. : COL
The rank of colonel (col.) is above the rank of major (maj.).
49. Passenger-screening org. : TSA
Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
52. Maureen of “Miracle on 34th Street” : O’HARA
The beautiful and talented Maureen O’Hara is an Irish actress, famous for her films made with fellow actor John Wayne and the director John Ford. O’Hara was born in a suburb of Dublin called Ranelagh (where many of my own ancestors were born).
“Miracle on 34th Street” is a classic Christmas film from 1947 starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne and a very young Natalie Wood. If I might ruin the end of the story for you, Santa Claus does exist ‘cause the US Post Office says so …
58. Joe : MUD
It seems that no one really knows why we refer to coffee as “joe”, but we’ve been doing so since early in WWII.
62. Roman “I” : EGO
“Ego” is Latin for “I”.
63. Magic Johnson’s real first name : EARVIN
Magic Johnson’s real name is Earvin Johnson. Johnson was born and grew up in Lansing, Michigan. Earvin earned the nickname “Magic” when playing basketball in high school, after one particularly great performance on the court.
65. Yule beverage : 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.
A Yule log is a large log made from a very hard wood that is burned as part of the Christmas celebration. There is also a cake called a Yule log that is served at Christmas, especially in French-speaking parts of the world. The cake is made from sponge that is rolled up to resemble a wooden Yule log.
66. Music mixes at a nightclub : DJ SETS
The world’s first radio disk jockey (DJ) was one Ray Newby of Stockton, California who made his debut broadcast in 1909, would you believe? When he was 16 years old and a student, Newby started to play his records on a primitive radio located in the Herrold College of Engineering and Wireless in San Jose. The records played back then were mostly recordings of Enrico Caruso.
67. Pirate’s interjection : ARRR!
International Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19th every year, a “holiday” that was created in 1995. The event started out as an inside joke between John Baur and Mark Summers of Albany, Oregon, but when they shared the notion with the columnist Dave Barry, he promoted the idea and it took off.
Down
1. Spartans, to the Athenians : ENEMY
The Peloponnesian War was fought from 431 to 404 BC between the Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Prior to the war, Athens was the strongest city-state in Greece. After the victory by the Peloponnesian League, Sparta emerged as the leading power.
3. ___ bar : TAPAS
“Tapa” is the Spanish word for “lid”, and there is no clear rationale for why this word came to be used for an appetizer. There are lots of explanations cited, all of which seem to involve the temporary covering of one’s glass of wine with a plate or item of food to either preserve the wine or give one extra space at the table.
4. Shortly : ANON
“Anon” originally meant “at once” and evolved into today’s meaning of “soon” apparently just because the word was misused over time.
7. “So long, Sofia!” : CIAO!
“Ciao” is the Italian for “‘bye”. “Arrivederci” is more formal, and translates as “goodbye”.
12. Store with a “Self Serve” furniture warehouse : IKEA
The furniture chain IKEA was founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943, when he was just 17-years-old. IKEA is an acronym that stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd (don’t forget now!). Elmtaryd was the name of the farm where Ingvar Kamprad grew up, and Agunnaryd is his home parish in Sweden.
13. Big name in PCs : DELL
Dell, the computer manufacturer, is named after the company’s founder Michael Dell. Michael Dell started his company in his dorm room at college, shipping personal computers that were customized to the specific needs of his customers. He dropped out of school in order to focus on his growing business, a decision that I doubt he regrets. Michael Dell is now one of the richest people in the world.
18. Places : STEADS
To do something “in one’s stead” is to do it in one’s place, instead of.
26. B&O and Pennsylvania: Abbr. : RRS
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) was one of the oldest in the country. Construction started on the railroad in 1828 in order to offer a method of transportation inland from Baltimore. This was deemed necessary as Baltimore was losing business to New York City after the completion of the Erie Canal (which cheaply and efficiently moved goods inland).
The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) was a large rail network in the northeast that was founded in 1846. Even though the “Pennsy” (as it was called) was the busiest railroad in the first half of the twentieth century, it went out of business in 1968. The PRR was also the largest public company in the world at one point, and it still holds the record for the longest continuous dividend history, having paid out an annual dividend for over one hundred years in a row.
28. Food label stat : RDA
Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)
29. Finish a hole between a birdie and a bogey : MAKE PAR
The following terms are routinely used in golf for scores relative to par:
– Bogey: one over par
– Par
– Birdie: one under par
– Eagle: two under par
– Albatross (also “double eagle”): three under par
– Condor: four under par
No one has ever recorded a condor during a professional tournament.
32. The “N” in NASA: Abbr. : NATL
The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite towards the end of 1957, a development that shocked the establishment in the US. Within months, President Eisenhower created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA, now DARPA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Space Race had begun …
33. Robert ___, longest-serving senator in U.S. history (51 years) : BYRD
Democratic Senator Robert Byrd passed away in June, 2010. Byrd was the US Senator from West Virginia. He was elected to office in 1959 and retained his seat until his death. Senator Byrd was the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress, having served for 51 years.
34. Dissolute man : ROUE
“Roue” is a lovely word, I think, describing a less than lovely man. A roue could otherwise be described as a cad, someone of loose morals. “Roue” comes from the French word “rouer” meaning “to break on a wheel”. This describes the ancient form of capital punishment where a poor soul was lashed to a wheel and then beaten to death with cudgels and bars. I guess the suggestion is that a roue, with his loose morals, deserves such a punishment.
Someone described as “dissolute” lacks ethical restraint, has loose morals. The term comes from the Latin verb “dissolvere” meaning “to loosen up”.
40. One end of an eBay transaction : SELLER
eBay was founded in 1995 as AuctionWeb as part of a computer programmer’s personal website. One of the first items purchased was a broken laser pointer, for $14.83. The buyer collected broken laser pointers …
42. Home of the Brave?: Abbr. : ATL
The Atlanta Braves are the only team to have won baseball’s World Series in three different home cities. They won as the Boston Braves in 1914, the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and the Atlanta Braves in 1995.
43. Oslo Accords grp. : PLO
The Oslo Accords grew out of secret negotiations between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in a residence in Oslo in the early nineties. The delegates shared the same house while they conducted 14 meetings. While eating all their meals together at the same table, the negotiators came to respect one another and apparently friendships developed.
45. Spoke on the stump : ORATED
“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.
49. East ___ (nation since 2002) : TIMOR
Timor is an island in Maritime Southeast Asia. The island is politically divided into West Timor, belonging to Indonesia, and the independent state of East Timor. The name “Timor” comes from a Malay word for “east”, and is used as Timor lies at the eastern end of the Lesser Sunda Islands.
50. ___ Report (political document of 1998) : STARR
Ken Starr has to be one of the most famous lawyers in recent history, due to his tenure as Independent Counsel when President Bill Clinton was in office. Starr’s original brief was to investigate the suicide of White House Counsel Vince Foster as well as to continue the investigation of the Whitewater controversy in which then-Governor Clinton was accused of applying pressure to arrange an illegal loan to one of his partners in the Whitewater land deal. Famously, Starr’s purview was extended to include an investigation into President Clinton’s extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky, to determine if the President had lied under oath about his relationship with the young intern.
53. Science fiction award : HUGO
The Hugo Awards are presented annually for excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing. The awards are named for Hugo Gernsback who founded the sci-fi magazine “Amazing Stories”.
57. Hip-hop trio ___ Soul : DE LA
De La Soul is a hip hop trio from Long Island, New York. The band’s members are Kelvin Mercer (aka Pos), David Jude Jolicoeur (aka Trugoy) and Vincent Mason (aka Maseo).
60. British rule in India : RAJ
The period of colonial rule by the British in South Asia from 1858 to 1947 is referred to as the British Raj. Prior to 1858, the area was ruled by a private enterprise, the British East India Company. “Raj” is the Hindi word for “reign”.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Jazz legend ___ James : ETTA
5. Like the path of a high basketball shot : ARCING
11. “One no-trump,” e.g. : BID
14. Indian bread : NAAN
15. Funnyman Carl : REINER
16. Hawaiian instrument, for short : UKE
17. Retroactively, at law : EX POST FACTO
19. Animation frame : CEL
20. “I ___ every word I said” : MEANT
21. Email chuckle : LOL
22. Outspoken : VOCAL
24. Football units: Abbr. : YDS
25. Poetic preposition : ERE
27. Lady in Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene” : IRENA
29. Red giants : MARX AND LENIN
33. Women, impolitely : BROADS
36. Drink often served with a lemon wedge : TEA
37. City between Tempe and Apache Junction : MESA
38. “The ___ on you!” (classic gag line) : YOLK’S
39. @@@ : ATS
40. Went letter by letter, British-style : SPELT
41. Impolite : RUDE
42. Late boxing great : ALI
43. Long-winged seabird : PETREL
44. How Ivan the Terrible ruled : DESPOTICALLY
47. ___ Court (district in London) : EARL’S
48. Rank above maj. : COL
49. Passenger-screening org. : TSA
52. Maureen of “Miracle on 34th Street” : O’HARA
54. Bit of apparel with a ring neck : TEE
56. Copy changes : EDITS
58. Joe : MUD
59. Pirate’s guide that’s hinted at phonetically by the starts of 17-, 29- and 44-Across : TREASURE MAP
62. Roman “I” : EGO
63. Magic Johnson’s real first name : EARVIN
64. Stuff of legends : LORE
65. Yule beverage : NOG
66. Music mixes at a nightclub : DJ SETS
67. Pirate’s interjection : ARRR!
Down
1. Spartans, to the Athenians : ENEMY
2. Imposed a levy on : TAXED
3. ___ bar : TAPAS
4. Shortly : ANON
5. Paintings : ART
6. Involuntary action : REFLEX
7. “So long, Sofia!” : CIAO!
8. Leans : INCLINES
9. Amount after all is said and done : NET
10. Abase oneself : GROVEL
11. Pirate : BUCCANEER
12. Store with a “Self Serve” furniture warehouse : IKEA
13. Big name in PCs : DELL
18. Places : STEADS
23. Risky way for a car to be running : ON EMPTY
26. B&O and Pennsylvania: Abbr. : RRS
28. Food label stat : RDA
29. Finish a hole between a birdie and a bogey : MAKE PAR
30. Room under a roof : ATTIC
31. What may be pictured on a 59-Across : ISLE
32. The “N” in NASA: Abbr. : NATL
33. Robert ___, longest-serving senator in U.S. history (51 years) : BYRD
34. Dissolute man : ROUE
35. Pirate, informally : OLD SEADOG
39. Top celebs : A-LISTERS
40. One end of an eBay transaction : SELLER
42. Home of the Brave?: Abbr. : ATL
43. Oslo Accords grp. : PLO
45. Spoke on the stump : ORATED
46. Does really well on a test : ACES IT
49. East ___ (nation since 2002) : TIMOR
50. ___ Report (political document of 1998) : STARR
51. According to : AS PER
52. Portent : OMEN
53. Science fiction award : HUGO
55. Place for an icicle : EAVE
57. Hip-hop trio ___ Soul : DE LA
60. British rule in India : RAJ
61. Little ___ : ‘UNS
10:13, no errors, iPad. The theme went right over my head …
Just getting back to doing the NY Times. Have been sticking with just LA Times for a while. This will no doubt cause a decrease in my overall productivity, but what the heck.
A little more challenging than the LA Times this morning, but that's a good thing. PETREL and DELA were new to me. Ken Starr back in the news with his transgressions at Baylor U.
@Dave –
Do you do these NY Times puzzles regularly? I think I only see you at the LA Times puzzles on weekends. Nice time. I was about 5 minutes over yours.
Best –
@Jeff … I have done the NYT puzzle every day, and the LAT puzzle every Sunday, for many years. Until recently, I did them in syndication in the Denver Post. Early in 2015, I bought an iPad, discovered Bill's marvelous blogs, and began posting to them occasionally. Earlier this year, for various reasons, I downloaded the NYT app to my iPad and began doing the NYT puzzles in "real time", rather than (or in addition to) "syndicated time". (This has somewhat reduced my posting here because it's kinda lonely, since syndicated-time posters significantly outnumber real-time posters.) Recently, "Glenn" began posting information about the WSJ crosswords on the LAT blog, so I started doing those, too. At various times over the years, I have also picked up other puzzles, so, at this point, I am also doing the "Universal" crossword, the "On-The-Go" crossword, the "King" crossword, the "Cryptoquote", the "Cryptoquip", the "Jumble", two sudokus, and two easy kenkens six days a week (seven in a couple of cases). In short, it's a good thing I'm retired, because I would now have precious little time left to hold down a job … 🙂
@Dave –
Wow – that's amazing. Now I don't feel so bad when my times pale in comparison to yours. You're a real pro at these.
I figure I'm more of an advanced intermediate at these now. I just started about 3 years ago with the LA Times because it's what's in the Houston Chronicle where I live. Strangely, they print the syndicated NY Times puzzle on Sundays which is a week old when I see it. I've gotten hooked on those so I've subscribed to the NY Times – something I did a while back but had decided I didn't have the time.
This means 2 puzzles daily for me, and I am definitely not retired. I hope I can make time for both because I really like the challenge of the NY Times grids and the camaraderie of the LA Times clan. I've been at doing both for a week or so, but most of that time was a 3 day weekend.
Btw – that puzzle last Thursday with the theme where you drew the line through the clue and just read the bottom?? That's why I want to stay here.
Since I'm doing these real time, I'll be checking in regularly.
Best –
If "COL" is above "MAJ" then so is "GEN" in five flavors. The first answer that
came to me was "LTC" as per the US Army.
No errors. I sometimes question society's glamorization of pirates. The reality of pirates is that they are a scourge on the earth.