0123-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 23 Jan 17, Monday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. “Winnie-the-___” : POOH
Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne was an English author, best known for his delightful “Winnie-the-Pooh” series of books. He had only one son, Christopher Robin Milne, born in 1920. The young Milne was the inspiration for the Christopher Robin character in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Winnie-the-Pooh was named after Christopher Robin’s real teddy bear, one he called Winnie, who in turn was named after a Canadian black bear called Winnie that the Milnes would visit in London Zoo. The original Winnie teddy bear is on display at the main branch of the New York Public Library in New York.

14. Something cleared up by Clearasil : ACNE
Clearasil acne medication was developed in 1940 by Ivan Combe and Kedzie Teller. Combe promoted the product by sponsoring the television show “American Bandstand” for many years.

15. Akron’s home : OHIO
For part of the 1800s, the Ohio city of Akron was the fasting growing city in the country, feeding off the industrial boom of that era. The city was founded in 1825 and its location, along the Ohio and Erie canal connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio River, helped to fuel Akron’s growth. Akron sits at the highest point of the canal and the name “Akron” comes from the Greek word meaning “summit”. Indeed, Akron is the county seat of Summit County. The city earned the moniker “Rubber Capital of the World” for most of the 20th century, as it was home to four major tire companies: Goodrich, Goodyear, Firestone and General Tire.

16. To whom Butler said “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” : O’HARA
The famous line “Here’s looking at you, kid.” from 1942’s “Casablanca” was ranked no. 2 in a list of top movie quotes compiled by “The Hollywood Reporter”. The top of the list makes interesting reading, with the following comprising the top five:

1. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” from “Gone With the Wind” (1939)
2. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” from “Casablanca” (1942)
3. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” from “Jaws” (1975)
4. “May the Force be with you.” from “Star Wars” (1977)
5. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” from “The Wizard of Oz” (1939)

19. Used a light beam on in surgery : LASED
The term “laser” comes is an acronym standing for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation” (LASER). It has been pointed out that a more precise name for laser technology is “Light Oscillation by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”, but the resulting acronym isn’t quite so appealing, namely LOSER!

20. Samuel of the Supreme Court : ALITO
Associate Justice Samuel Alito was nominated to the US Supreme Court by President George W. Bush. Alito is the second Italian-American to serve on the Supreme Court (Antonin Scalia was the first). Alito studied law at Yale and while in his final year he left the country for the first time in his life, heading to Italy to work on his thesis about the Italian legal system.

23. Indenting key : TAB
Like most features on our computer keyboards, the tab key is a hangover from the days of typewriters. When using a typewriter, making entries into a table was very tedious, involving lots of tapping on the spacebar and backspace key. So, a lever was added to typewriters that allowed the operator to “jump” across the page to positions that could be set by hand. Later this was simplified to a tab key which could be depressed, causing the carriage to jump to the next tab stop in much the same way that the modern tab key works on a computer.

24. Indian tribe that lent its name to two states : DAKOTA
The Dakota Territory was formed in 1861 and ceased to exist with the admission to the Union of the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. The territory was split into two states in 1889 largely due to lobbying by the Republican Party, which enjoyed a lot of support in the Dakota Territory. The admission of two states added to the political power of the party in the US Senate, by adding four safe Republican seats.

26. Fabled city of wealth sought by conquistadors : EL DORADO
The original El Dorado was a Muisca chief who was covered with gold dust in a tribal ritual and then dove into Lake Guatavita in present-day Colombia. Later, “El Dorado” was adopted as the name for a mythical “Lost City of Gold” that became a quest from many Spanish Conquistadors who explored the Americas.

28. Before, to Byron : ERE
George Gordon Byron, known simply as “Lord Byron”, was an English poet active in the early 1800s. Byron was equally as famous for his poetry as he was for the wild excesses in his personal life. Byron lived much of that life outside of England, and fought for revolutionaries in both Italy and Greece. He died from a fever contracted while fighting for the Greeks against the Ottomans.

29. 401(k) relative : IRA
Individual retirement account (IRA)

A 401(k) account is similar to an IRA in that contributions can be made from a paycheck prior to the deduction of income taxes. Additionally, contributions can be fully or partially matched by an employer.

31. Versatile piece of furniture : SOFA BED
“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

34. Detroit factory output : CARS
The city of Detroit was founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a French explorer. The original settlement was named for the Detroit River, which in turn takes its name from the French word “détroit” meaning “strait”. Detroit became inextricably linked with the automotive business from the very early 20th century when Henry Ford and others set up manufacturing in the area. This link to transportation led to Detroit’s nicknames of “Motor City” and “Motown”. The city’s economic strength declined at the beginning of the 21st century, resulting in a 25% drop in population between 2000 and 2010. Detroit filed for the country’s largest municipal bankruptcy in history in 2013, facing a debt of $18.8 billion. The city exited bankruptcy at the end of 2014.

39. Trig or calc : MATH
Trigonometry (trig) is a branch of mathematics dealing with triangles, and calculations based on the relationships between a triangle’s angles and the lengths of its sides.

The Latin word “calculus” was originally used for a reckoning or an account, and originally applied to a pebble that was used to maintain a count. The Latin word came from the Greek for a pebble, “khalix”.

41. October birthstones : OPALS
Here is the “official” list of birthstones by month, that we tend to use today:

• January: Garnet
• February: Amethyst
• March: Bloodstone or Aquamarine
• April: Diamond
• May: Emerald
• June: Pearl or Moonstone
• July: Ruby
• August: Sardonyx or Peridot
• September: Sapphire or Lapis Lazuli
• October: Opal or Pink Tourmaline
• November: Topaz or Citrine
• December: Turquoise or Zircon (also now, Tanzanite)

42. Tel Aviv native : ISRAELI
The full name of Israel’s second largest city is Tel Aviv-Yafo. Tel Aviv translates into “Spring Mound”, a name chosen in 1910.

46. Sch. run by the Latter-day Saints : BYU
Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah has about 34.000 students on campus making it the largest religious university in the country. The school was founded in 1875 by Brigham Young, then President of the Mormon Church.

50. Gambling scam : SKIN GAME
The term “skin game” is used for a dishonest business operation or a confidence trick. It’s possible that the term is related to the phrase “having skin in the game”.

52. High on pot : STONED
“Potiguaya” is the Mexican-Spanish word for “marijuana leaves”. The slang name “pot” comes from “potiguaya”.

57. Big name in retail jewelry : ZALES
The first Zales jewelry store was opened by Morris and William Zale and Ben Lipshy in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1924. Zales became successful largely by offering credit to their customers, a revolutionary concept at the time.

62. ___ Ste. Marie, Mich. : SAULT
Sault Ste. Marie is the name of two cities on either side of the Canada-US border, one in Ontario and the other in Michigan. The two cities were originally one settlement in the 17th century, established by Jesuit Missionaries. The missionaries gave the settlement the name “Sault Sainte Marie”, which can be translated as “Saint Mary’s Falls”. The city was one community until 1817, when a US-UK Joint Boundary Commission set the border along the St. Mary’s River.

64. List-ending abbr. : ET AL
Et alii (et al.) is the equivalent of et cetera (etc.), with et cetera being used in place of a list of objects, and et alii used for a list of names. In fact “et al.” can stand for et alii (for a group of males, or males and females), aliae (for a group of women) and et alia (for a group of neuter nouns, or for a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).

67. Cincinnati team : REDS
The Red Scare (i.e. anti-communist sentiment) following WWII had such an effect on the populace that it even caused the Cincinnati baseball team to change its name from the Reds. The team was called the Cincinnati Redlegs from 1953-1958, as the management was fearful of losing money due to public distrust of any association with “Reds”.

Down
1. Macy’s Thanksgiving event : PARADE
The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City has been held every year since 1924, with a brief suspension from 1942-1944. The parade was halted during WWII as there was a need for rubber and helium to support the war effort.

2. Eye-related : OCULAR
Oculus (plural “oculi”) is the Latin word for “eye”.

8. Red Monopoly purchases : HOTELS
In the game of Monopoly, one can purchase a hotel by “demolishing” four houses and by paying an extra amount equal to the price of a house.

12. Kindle or Nook : E-READER
Amazon’s Kindle line of e-book readers was introduced in 2007. The name “kindle” was chosen to evoke images of “lighting a fire” through reading and intellectual stimulation. I bought myself a Kindle Fire HD not that long ago. I’ve started reading e-books for the first time in my life, as well as enjoying other computing options available with the tablet device. I love it …

The Barnes & Noble electronic-book reader is called the Nook. The Nook accounts for 10-15% of electronic book readers in the world.

18. Corkscrew-shaped noodles : ROTINI
Rotini is the corkscrew-shaped pasta that is often used in pasta salads. Even though “rotini” sounds like it comes from a word meaning “twist, rotate”, the word “rotini” doesn’t exist in Italian, other than as the name for the pasta.

25. Asia’s ___ Sea : ARAL
The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet Union irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …

30. Coll. entrance exam : ACT
ACT is an abbreviation for American College Testing. The ACT is an entrance exam used by many universities. It has four sections, English, Reading, Math and Science, and an optional 30-minute essay.

32. Actor Hawke of “Boyhood” : ETHAN
Ethan Hawke is a Hollywood actor who made his breakthrough in a supporting role in “Dead Poet’s Society”, playing opposite Robin Williams. Hawke was married to Uma Thurman, with whom he has two children.

“Boyhood” sounds like an interesting 2014 film about the coming-of-age of a young boy and his older sister. The film was actually shot over an 11-year period, so that the actors were seen to be growing up at the same time as the characters that they were playing. The critics loved this movie.

33. What it takes to tango : TWO
The dramatic dance called the tango originated in the late 1800s in the area along the border between Argentina and Uruguay. Dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires in particular traveled to Europe and beyond in the early twentieth century and brought the tango with them. The tango craze first struck Europe in Paris in the 1910s, and from there spread to London and Berlin, crossing the Atlantic to New York in 1913.

36. Alert to squad cars, for short : APB
An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

37. Big name in potato chips : LAY’S
Lay’s potato chips were introduced in 1938 by Herman W. Lay. Lay started selling his chips out the trunk of his car, travelling all over the US. In those days the chips were pretty much handmade, but Lay put an end to that in 1942. He invented the first continuous potato processor in 1948, and chips started to take over the world!

38. All thumbs : KLUTZY
A “klutz” is an awkward individual, and the term comes from Yiddish. The Yiddish word for a clumsy person is “klots”.

43. Long-necked waders : EGRETS
Egrets are a group of several species of white herons. Many egret species were faced with extinction in the 1800s and early 1900s due to plume hunting, a practice driven by the demand for egret plumes that could be incorporated into hats.

44. Language in Vientiane : LAO
Vientiane is the capital city of Laos, situated on the famous Mekong River. The city was originally called the “city of sandalwood” by Buddhist monks, naming after the valued trees that grew in the area. The French took the Pali words for “city of sandalwood” and rewrote it as the French-sounding “Vientiane”.

48. Little shaver, to a Scot : WEE LAD
“Shaver” is a slang term for a “fellow”, from the sense of “one who shaves”.

49. ’50s Ford flops : EDSELS
The Edsel brand of automobile was named for Edsel, son of Henry Ford. Sadly, the name “Edsel” has become synonymous with “failure”, which was no fault of Edsel himself who had died several years before the Edsel line was introduced. When the Ford Motor Company introduced the Edsel on 4 September 1957, Ford proclaimed the day to be “E Day”.

53. Many a John Wayne film, informally : OATER
The term “oater” that is used for a western movie comes from the number of horses seen, as horses love oats!

John Wayne was called Marion Mitchell Morrison at birth, named after his grandfather who was a Civil War veteran. When young Marion was a little boy, a local fireman used to call him “Little Duke” because he was always seen walking with his large dog called “Duke”. Marion liked the name “Duke” and so he called himself Duke Morrison for the rest of his life. That said, Duke Morrison also used John Wayne as a stage name.

59. “Evil Woman” rock grp. : ELO
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) recorded the song “Evil Woman” in 1975. “Evil Woman” was written by the band’s lead vocalist Jeff Lynne, in just thirty minutes!

61. “Balderdash!” : ROT!
“Balderdash” means “senseless jumble of words”. The original balderdash (back before the late 1600s) was a jumbled mix of liquids, like maybe beer and wine, or even beer and milk!

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “Winnie-the-___” : POOH
5. “Kisses, dahling!” : MWAH!
9. Recorded on a cassette : TAPED
14. Something cleared up by Clearasil : ACNE
15. Akron’s home : OHIO
16. To whom Butler said “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” : O’HARA
17. Slow-cooked beef entree : RUMP ROAST
19. Used a light beam on in surgery : LASED
20. Samuel of the Supreme Court : ALITO
21. “How do you ___?” (court query) : PLEAD
23. Indenting key : TAB
24. Indian tribe that lent its name to two states : DAKOTA
26. Fabled city of wealth sought by conquistadors : EL DORADO
28. Before, to Byron : ERE
29. 401(k) relative : IRA
31. Versatile piece of furniture : SOFA BED
32. Put into law : ENACT
34. Detroit factory output : CARS
35. One with a leg up in the circus business? : STILT WALKER
39. Trig or calc : MATH
41. October birthstones : OPALS
42. Tel Aviv native : ISRAELI
46. Sch. run by the Latter-day Saints : BYU
47. Have bills : OWE
50. Gambling scam : SKIN GAME
52. High on pot : STONED
54. Bottle alternative : CAN
55. Laughs loudly : ROARS
57. Big name in retail jewelry : ZALES
58. “Shucks, you shouldn’t have!” : AW GEE!
60. What the starts of 17-, 26-, 35- and 50-Across are : FAIRY TALE
62. ___ Ste. Marie, Mich. : SAULT
63. Regarding : AS TO
64. List-ending abbr. : ET AL
65. Writers’ wrongs? : TYPOS
66. Container for eggs : NEST
67. Cincinnati team : REDS

Down
1. Macy’s Thanksgiving event : PARADE
2. Eye-related : OCULAR
3. Like a live radio announcer : ON MIKE
4. Aware of, in cool-cat slang : HEP TO
5. Cow sound : MOO
6. Fly swatter sound : WHAP!
7. Passage in a plane : AISLE
8. Red Monopoly purchases : HOTELS
9. Described, as something in the past : TOLD OF
10. “So THAT’s the story here!” : AHA!
11. Carb-heavy buffet area : PASTA BAR
12. Kindle or Nook : E-READER
13. Some pudgy, middle-aged physiques, informally : DAD BODS
18. Corkscrew-shaped noodles : ROTINI
22. Commotion : ADO
25. Asia’s ___ Sea : ARAL
27. Off to the ___ (starting strong) : RACES
30. Coll. entrance exam : ACT
32. Actor Hawke of “Boyhood” : ETHAN
33. What it takes to tango : TWO
35. Hang, Wild West-style : STRING UP
36. Alert to squad cars, for short : APB
37. Big name in potato chips : LAY’S
38. All thumbs : KLUTZY
39. Wrong for the role : MISCAST
40. “Go ahead, shoot!” : ASK AWAY!
43. Long-necked waders : EGRETS
44. Language in Vientiane : LAO
45. “Your work is wonderful” : I’M A FAN
47. Airing after midnight, say : ON LATE
48. Little shaver, to a Scot : WEE LAD
49. ’50s Ford flops : EDSELS
51. Clear the blackboard : ERASE
53. Many a John Wayne film, informally : OATER
56. Takes a chair : SITS
59. “Evil Woman” rock grp. : ELO
61. “Balderdash!” : ROT!

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