1019-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 19 Oct 16, Wednesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Twosome on TMZ, e.g. : ITEM
An unmarried couple known to be involved with each other might appear in the gossip columns. This appearance as “an item” in the papers, led to the use of “item” to refer to such a couple, but only since the very early seventies.

TMZ.com is a celebrity gossip web site launched in 2005. “TMZ” stands for “thirty-mile zone”, a reference to the “studio zone” in Los Angeles. The studio zone is circular in shape with a 30-mile radius centered on the intersection of West Beverly Boulevard and North La Cienega Boulevard.

5. Level : RAZE
To “raze” (“rase”, in UK English) is to level to the ground. I’ve always thought it odd that “raise”, a homophone of “raze”, means to build up.

9. Put down for the count : KAYO
A “kayo” is a knock-out (KO).

15. Mazatlán mister : SENOR
Mazatlán is a city in Mexico on the Pacific coast sitting right opposite the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.

16. SAT administrator, by trade? : PRO TESTER
Today the standardized test for admission to colleges is known as the SAT Reasoning Test, but it used to be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, which led to the abbreviation SAT.

18. City where Galileo taught : PADUA
The city of Padua is in northern Italy, not far from Venice. Padua has many claims to fame. Galileo was one of the lecturers at the University of Padua, for example. And, William Shakespeare chose the city as the setting for his play “The Taming of the Shrew”.

19. Cremains holder : URN
The ashes of a cremated body can be referred to as “cremains”, cremated remains.

27. Biblical garden : EDEN
According to the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve lived in a garden “in” Eden, with Eden being geographically located by reference to four rivers including the Tigris and the Euphrates. Some scholars hypothesize that Eden was located in Mesopotamia, which encompasses much of modern-day Iraq.

29. Great Lakes canal name : SOO
In the summer of 2010 I spent a very interesting afternoon watching ships make their way through the Soo Locks and Soo Canals between Lake Superior and the lower Great lakes. The name “Soo” comes from the US and Canadian cities on either side of the locks, both called Sault Ste. Marie.

30. Dizzying designs : OP ART
Op art is also known as optical art, and puts optical illusions to great effect.

33. Marzipan component : ALMOND
Marzipan is a scrumptious confection made from almond meal sweetened with sugar or honey. The former English name was “marchpane” meaning “March bread”. We now use the term “marzipan”, which is the German name.

40. Politico Perot : H ROSS
Ross Perot graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1953, as president of his class. Perot served his 4-year commitment but then resigned his commission, apparently having become somewhat disillusioned with the navy. He was ranked number 101 on the Forbes 400 List of Richest Americans in 2012, and at that time was worth about $3.5 billion. Back in 1992, Perot ran as an independent candidate for US president. He founded the Reform Party in 1995, and ran as the Reform Party candidate for president in 1996.

41. With 10-Down, lead vocalist and flutist for rock’s Jethro Tull : IAN
(10A. See 41-Across : ANDERSON)
Scottish musician and singer Ian Anderson is best known as the lead singer and flautist for the rock group Jethro Tull, who were at the pinnacle of their success in 1970s.

Jethro Tull is a rock band from the UK, formed in 1967 and active until 2012. The band uses the name of a 18th-century, English agriculturist.

42. Perlman of “Cheers” : RHEA
Rhea Perlman’s most famous role has to be “Carla Tortelli”, the irascible waitress in the long-running sitcom “Cheers”. Perlman is also a successful children’s author, and has published a series of six books called “Otto Undercover”. She is married to Hollywood actor Danny DeVito, and has been so since 1982.

44. Beige-ish : ECRU
The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.

51. Boozehounds : LUSHES
“Lush” is a slang term for a heavy drinker. Back in the 1700s, “lush” was slang for “liquor”.

54. Candy in a dispenser : PEZ
PEZ is an Austrian brand name for a particular candy sold in a mechanical dispenser. Famously, PEZ dispensers have molded “heads”, and have become very collectible over the years. The list of heads includes historical figures like Betsy Ross and Paul Revere, characters from “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”, and even British royalty like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (“William and Kate”). The name PEZ comes from the first, middle and last letters of “Pfefferminz”, the German word for “peppermint”.

56. Last word of “The Star-Spangled Banner” : BRAVE
The lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” were written first as a poem by Francis Scott Key, inspired by the bombarding by the British of the American forces at Fort McHenry that he witnessed during the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814. The words were then set to the tune of a popular British drinking song penned by John Stafford Smith called “The Anacreontic Song”, with the Anacreontic Society being a men’s club in London.

62. Jacob’s womb-mate : ESAU
Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins “the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)”. As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father’s wealth (it was his “birthright”). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a “mess of pottage” (a meal of lentils).

63. One of a Latin trio : AMAT
Amo, amas, amat” … I love, you love, he/she/it loves”, in Latin.

64. Risqué, maybe : EDGY
“Risqué” is a French word, the past participle of the verb “to risk”. So in English we use “risqué” to mean “racy”, but in French it means “risky”.

65. Captain Sparrow portrayer : DEPP
Johnny Depp got his big break as an actor on television, in the eighties television show “21 Jump Street”. Depp’s first film success came when he played the title role in 1990’s “Edward Scissorhands”. He has twice been named Sexiest Man Alive by “People” magazine.

Captain Jack Sparrow is the protagonist in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series of movies. Sparrow is of course played by Johnny Depp. Depp has said that he based his portrayal of Sparrow partly on the Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. I could believe that …

Down
3. Goolagong who won seven Grand Slam singles event titles : EVONNE
Evonne Goolagong is a former Australian tennis player who was at the pinnacle of her success in seventies and early eighties. Her colorful family name, Goolagong, came from her Aboriginal father who worked for much of his life as an itinerant sheep shearer. I remember seeing Goolagong play back then, and I always thought that she was so elegant and such a lady on the court …

5. Choir’s support : RISER
A riser is a platform that elevates a group of people above a crowd, and so is ideal for the performance of a choir.

7. Waltz ending? : ZEE
The ending letter of the word “waltz” is a letter Z (zee).

What we tend to think of as a waltz today is danced at about 90 beats per minute. The original waltz was much faster, and is danced at about 180 beats per minute. To differentiate, we now call the faster dance a “Viennese Waltz”, and sometimes refer to the other as the “English Waltz” or “slow waltz”.

8. Using “effect” for “affect” and vice versa : ERRORS
“Vice versa” is a Latin phrase meaning “with position turned”. We always pronounce this term “incorrectly”. In Latin, a “c” is a hard sound, and a “v” is pronounced like a “w”. The pronunciation should be something like “wee-kay wehr-sa”.

9. “The Matrix” star Reeves : KEANU
Keanu Reeves is a Canadian actor whose most celebrated roles were a metalhead in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (1989), a cop in “Speed” (1994) and the protagonist Neo in “The Matrix” series of films. Although Reeves is a Canadian national, he was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Reeves has some Hawaiian descent, and the name “Keanu” is Hawaiian for “the coldness”.

The 1999 movie sensation “The Matrix” was meant to be set in a nondescript urban environment. It was actually shot in Australia, as one of the co-producers of the film was the Australian company, Village Roadshow Pictures. You can pick up all sorts of clues about the location when watching the film, including a view of Sydney Harbour Bridge in a background shot. Also, traffic drives along on the left and there are signs for the “lift” instead of an “elevator”.

24. Bouillon brand name : KNORR
When I was growing up in Ireland, we never saw Campbell’s soup on the shelves. It was basically all Knorr products, and dehydrated soup from a packet at that. How times have changed. Knorr is a German brand, now owned by the Anglo-Dutch Company Unilever.

31. Dish baked in an imu : POI
I was reliably informed by a blog reader that poi is not in fact cooked in an imu. Taro root might be baked in an imu, but that produces baked taro root, not poi …

An imu is a type of underground oven that is used in the traditional Hawaiian cooking method known as “kālua”. The word “kālua” actually means “to cook in an underground oven”. The imu is a sand or dirt pit usually about three feet deep. A fire is built in the pit using koa wood and then rocks are placed on the fire. Once the rocks are sufficiently hot, the pit is lined with banana leaves. The seasoned meat to be cooked is also wrapped in banana leaves, as well as wet burlap. The meat “package” is surrounded by hot rocks in the pit and then covered with sand or soil. Cooking time is usually 6 or 7 hours.

34. Fleur-de-___ : LIS
“Lys” (also “lis”) is the French word for “lily”, as in “fleur-de-lys”, the heraldic symbol often associated with the French monarchy.

35. Person who had a major part in the Bible? : MOSES
According to the Bible, The Pharaoh issued an edict that all male Hebrew children be drowned in the river Nile soon after birth. Moses’ mother saved her child by placing him in a basket and hiding him among the bulrushes at the edge of the Nile. The baby was found and adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter.

37. Coach Parseghian : ARA
Ara Parseghian coached the Notre Dame football team from 1964 to 1974, a period known as “The Era of Ara”.

39. Part of the body studied by otolaryngologists : EARDRUM
The eardrum lies at the intersection of the outer ear and middle ear. Also called the tympanic membrane, the eardrum picks up vibrations in air caused by sound waves, and transmits these vibrations to the three tiny bones called the ossicles. These ossicles (hammer, anvil and stirrup) are in the middle ear, and transmit the vibration to the oval window. The oval window is the membrane-covered opening lying at the intersection of the middle ear and the inner ear. The vibrations are transmitted into fluid in the inner ear, and converted into nerve impulses in the cochlea that are transmitted to the brain.

An otorhinolaryngologist (also “otolaryngologist”) is an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeon.

43. “S O S” : HELP ME!
The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are also mnemonics, introduced after the “SOS” signal was adopted.

45. Word that brings a smile : CHEESE
Photographers often instruct us to say “cheese”, to elicit a smile-like expression. Even Japanese photographers use the word “cheese” for the same effect. Bulgarians use the word “zele” meaning “cabbage”. The Chinese say “eggplant”, the Danish “orange”, the Iranians “apple” and the most Latin Americans say “whiskey”.

51. Liberal, disparagingly : LEFTY
The concept of left-right politics started in France during the French Revolution. When members of France’s National Assembly convened in 1789, supporters of the King sat to the President’s right, and supporters of the revolution to the President’s left. The political terms “left” and “right” were then coined in the local media and have been used ever since.

52. Israeli gun : UZI
The first Uzi submachine gun was designed in the late 1940s by Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal of the Israel Defense Forces, who gave his name to the gun.

54. Beer ___ : PONG
The game of beer pong is also known as “Beirut”. Beer pong reputedly originated as a drinking game in the fraternities of Dartmouth College in the fifties, when it was played with paddles and a ping pong net on a table. The origin of the “Beirut” name is less clear, but it probably was coined in while the Lebanese Civil War was raging in late seventies and the eighties.

56. Commercial ending with Wonder : -BRA
The world’s first push-up bra was the Wonderbra. The Wonderbra became very popular in the 1990s, although the brand name has been around since 1935.

59. Was like Fred Astaire to Ginger Rogers : LED
Fred Astaire’s real name was Frederick Austerlitz. Fred was from Omaha, Nebraska and before he made it big in movies, he was one half of a celebrated music hall act with his sister Adele. The pair were particularly successful in the UK, and Adele ended up marrying into nobility in England, taking the name Lady Charles Cavendish.

I am a huge Ginger Rogers fan. Rogers is famous as the on-screen and dancing partner of Fred Astaire. However, my favorite films are those romantic comedies she made later in her career, especially “The Major and the Minor” and “Monkey Business”. There is a musical stage show about Ginger Rogers’ life called “Backwards in High Heels: The Ginger Musical” that debuted in 2007. The title is taken from a 1982 “Frank & Ernest” cartoon about Fred & Ginger” with the words:

Sure he was great, but don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did – backwards and in high heels.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Twosome on TMZ, e.g. : ITEM
5. Level : RAZE
9. Put down for the count : KAYO
13. Touch emotionally : MOVE
14. Bakery employee : ICER
15. Mazatlán mister : SENOR
16. SAT administrator, by trade? : PRO TESTER
18. City where Galileo taught : PADUA
19. Cremains holder : URN
20. “I did it!” : YES!
21. Game one : OPENER
23. Fiddle (with) : TINKER
25. Doctor, by trade? : PRO CURER
27. Biblical garden : EDEN
28. Word before bump or pump : FIST
29. Great Lakes canal name : SOO
30. Dizzying designs : OP ART
33. Marzipan component : ALMOND
36. Apt title for this puzzle : PRO VOCATION
38. Sweetie pie : DEARIE
40. Politico Perot : H ROSS
41. With 10-Down, lead vocalist and flutist for rock’s Jethro Tull : IAN
42. Perlman of “Cheers” : RHEA
44. Beige-ish : ECRU
48. Model, by trade? : PRO POSER
51. Boozehounds : LUSHES
53. Claptrap : DRIVEL
54. Candy in a dispenser : PEZ
55. Farm mama : EWE
56. Last word of “The Star-Spangled Banner” : BRAVE
57. Manicurists and tax preparers, by trade? : PRO FILERS
60. Bit of gossip : RUMOR
61. Green shade : MINT
62. Jacob’s womb-mate : ESAU
63. One of a Latin trio : AMAT
64. Risqué, maybe : EDGY
65. Captain Sparrow portrayer : DEPP

Down
1. Attribute (to) : IMPUTE
2. Hot and then some : TORRID
3. Goolagong who won seven Grand Slam singles event titles : EVONNE
4. Ran into : MET
5. Choir’s support : RISER
6. Doesn’t just talk : ACTS
7. Waltz ending? : ZEE
8. Using “effect” for “affect” and vice versa : ERRORS
9. “The Matrix” star Reeves : KEANU
10. See 41-Across : ANDERSON
11. “I’ll take that bet!” : YOU’RE ON!
12. “… man ___ mouse?” : OR A
15. Something a journalist may work on : SPEC
17. Feature of a 22-Down : EYE
22. Something to make a hash of? : POTATO
24. Bouillon brand name : KNORR
25. Pub purchase for the table : PITCHER
26. Implement for an angler : ROD
28. To’s opposite : FRO
31. Dish baked in an imu : POI
32. Disinclined (to) : AVERSE
34. Fleur-de-___ : LIS
35. Person who had a major part in the Bible? : MOSES
36. View through a wide-angle lens : PANORAMA
37. Coach Parseghian : ARA
38. Bad news in the polls : DIP
39. Part of the body studied by otolaryngologists : EARDRUM
43. “S O S” : HELP ME!
45. Word that brings a smile : CHEESE
46. Fix, as a bandage : REWRAP
47. Consumes : USES UP
49. Cagey debater’s tactic : PIVOT
50. “Your turn to talk,” on radio : OVER
51. Liberal, disparagingly : LEFTY
52. Israeli gun : UZI
54. Beer ___ : PONG
56. Commercial ending with Wonder : -BRA
58. Dispose (of) : RID
59. Was like Fred Astaire to Ginger Rogers : LED

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