0131-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 31 Jan 17, Tuesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Neil Padrick Wilson
THEME: Things in a Bottle
Today’s themed answers each end with a word that often precedes the phrase “IN A BOTTLE”.

61A. Words that can follow the ends of the answers to the starred clues : … IN A BOTTLE

18A. *Vessel with a large hold : CARGO SHIP (giving “ship in a bottle”)
23A. *What a family spends together at the dinner table : QUALITY TIME (giving “Time in a Bottle”)
38A. *Branches in a storm? : FORKED LIGHTNING (giving “Lightning in a Bottle”)
55A. *Its arrival may be signaled by a ding : TEXT MESSAGE (giving “message in a bottle”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 7m 12s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2

  • BOZ (Bop)
  • AGAPE (agaze)

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

6. Kazakhstan’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 …

The Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia is the world’s largest landlocked country. Kazakhstan was also the last of the former Soviet Republics (SSRs) to declare itself independent from Russia.

10. Computer company with the slogan “Explore beyond limits” : ACER
I owned several Acer laptops, which were for my money the most reliable machine at the best price. Acer is a Taiwanese company that I used to visit a lot when I was in the electronics business. I was very impressed back then with the company’s dedication to quality, although I have heard that things haven’t gone so well in recent years …

17. Sign of life : PULSE
One’s “pulse” is the rhythmic throbbing of arteries that is usually detected at the wrist or the neck. The contraction of the heart creates a pressure wave in the blood that moves the arterial walls, which is detected as the pulse.

18. *Vessel with a large hold : CARGO SHIP (giving “ship in a bottle”)
“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”.

22. “Seinfeld” stock character? : SOUP NAZI
“The Soup Nazi” is a famous episode of the hit show “Seinfeld”. The story is all about a soup stand owned by an excessively strict man referred to as the “Soup Nazi”. Believe it or not, the “Soup Nazi” character is based on a real soup vendor in New York City.

23. *What a family spends together at the dinner table : QUALITY TIME (giving “Time in a Bottle”)
“Time in a Bottle” is a song written by Jim Croce in 1970 and recorded by him in 1972. The song was released as a single in 1973, soon after Croce died in a plane crash. It was to be Croce’s last number-one hit.

26. Competitor of Secret : BAN
Ban was the first roll-on deodorant, introduced in 1952. The formulation for Ban is the same as the brand called Mum, the first commercial deodorant, which dates back to the late 1800s.

Secret is an antiperspirant/deodorant made by Procter & Gamble, first introduced in 1956 as a cream that was applied with the fingers (ick!). There followed a roll-on version in 1958, a spray in 1964 and the solid stick in 1978.

27. Predecessor of the CW : UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was a TV channel that launched in 1995, and shut down in 2006. Some of UPN’s programming was moved to the CW channel at the time of UPN’s demise.

28. Mauna ___ : LOA
Mauna Loa on the “big island” of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

32. Hilarity, in Internet-speak : LOLZ
Apparently, the textspeak LOLZ is the plural form of LOL (laugh out loud).

34. One side of the Pacific : ASIA
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who was hired by King Charles I of Spain to find a westward route to the “Spice Islands”, now known as the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. Magellan headed west through the Atlantic starting out in 1519. He passed south of the Americas through was is now called the Strait of Magellan. The body of water he encountered west of the Americas he named the “peaceful sea”, the Pacific Ocean. He and his expedition reached the Spice Islands in 1521, and returned home via the Indian Ocean. This voyage was the first circumnavigation of the globe in history.

38. *Branches in a storm? : FORKED LIGHTNING (giving “Lightning in a Bottle”)
Lightning in a Bottle is a counterculture festival held annually in Central Coast of California. Featuring a mix of music, art and culture, Lightning in a Bottle originated as a private birthday party in 2000, and evolved into a public event starting in 2004.

44. Partridge’s tree, in a Christmas song : PEAR
The fabulous Christmas Carol called “The Twelve Days of Christmas” dates back at least to 1780 when it was first published in England, though it may be French in origin. The concept of twelve days of Christmas comes from the tradition that the three kings came to visit the Christ Child twelve days after he was born. This same tradition is the origin of the title to Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night”.

46. Put together, as a team : YOKE
A yoke is a wooden beam used between a pair of oxen so that they are forced to work together.

51. Singer Scaggs with the 1976 hit “Lowdown” : BOZ
Boz Scaggs is an American musician, a longtime collaborator with Steve Miller.

63. Sean who played Mikey in “The Goonies” : ASTIN
Sean Astin is best known for playing the title role in the 1993 film “Rudy” and the character Samwise Gamgee in the “Lord of the Rings” movies. You might also have seen him playing Lynn McGill in the 5th season of “24”. Astin is the son of actress Patty Duke.

66. Band with the hit “Whip It” : DEVO
Devo is a band from Akron, Ohio formed back in 1973. The band’s biggest hit is “Whip It” released in 1980. Devo have a gimmick: the wearing of red, terraced plastic hats that are referred to as “energy domes”. Why? I have no idea …

67. Pope who excommunicated Martin Luther : LEO X
Pope Leo X is remembered as the last pope who was not a priest before taking office. Leo X was also known for granting indulgences to those willing to donate funds for the reconstruction of St. Peter’s Basilica, a practice that contributed to the revolt against the church by Martin Luther. As a result of the revolt, Leo X excommunicated Luther.

Martin Luther wrote his “95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of the Indulgences” in 1517, a document that is often seen as the spark that set off the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s main argument was that the Catholic Church’s practice of granting “indulgences”, forgiveness from punishment for sins, was wrong. It was especially wrong when such indulgences were granted in exchange for money.

69. Garden of ___ : 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.

70. Puzzlemaker Rubik : ERNO
What was originally called the “Magic Cube” became better known as Rubik’s Cube, named for its inventor Ernő Rubik. Rubik’s Cube is the world’s biggest selling puzzle game, with over 350 million sold in just over 30 years.

71. Strength : SINEW
Sinew is another name for a tendon. Tendons are bands of collagen that connect muscle to bone. Tendons are similar to ligaments and fasciae, which are also connective tissue made out of collagen, but ligaments join bone to bone, and fasciae connect muscle to muscle. We also use the term “sinew” to mean muscular power.

Down
1. Help at the entrance to a mall : MAP
Surprisingly, our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.

2. Aladdin’s monkey : ABU
Abu is a monkey in the Disney production of “Aladdin”. The character is based on Abu, a thief in the 1940 film “The Thief of Baghdad”.

4. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Dan : ISSEL
Dan Issel is a retired basketball player who played for the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA, and the Denver Nuggets of the NBA.

5. Plush fabric : CHENILLE
Chenille is a velvety fabric or yarn. The yarn is said to resemble a caterpillar, hence the name “chenille”, which is French for “caterpillar”.

8. Skillful : ADROIT
The French for “to the right” is “à droit”, from which we get our word “adroit”. The original meaning of “adroit” was “rightly, properly”, but it has come to mean dexterous and skillful. Someone described as “maladroit” is unskilled and awkward.

9. Peanut, for one : LEGUME
I have to say it, but it drives me crazy. Peanuts aren’t nuts, they’re legumes, a plant in the bean and pea family. The flowers of the peanut plant last only one day and then wither. The fertilized ovary develops an elongated “peg” that grows downwards, pushing the ovary down into the soil. The ovary develops underground into a mature peanut pod containing between one and four seeds, which we call “nuts”. But they aren’t nuts. Did I say that already …?

10. One of the A’s in N.A.A.C.P.: Abbr. : ASSN
The full name of the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is remarkable in that it actually still uses the offensive term “colored people”. The NAACP was founded in 1909, by a group that included suffragette and journalist Mary White Ovington, wealthy socialist William English Walling, and civil rights activist Henry Moscowitz. Another member of the founding group was W. E. B. Du Bois, the first African-American to earn a doctorate at Harvard University. The date chosen for the founding of the NAACP was February 12th, 1909, the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln, the man most visibly associated with the emancipation of African-American slaves.

12. Woman who sings “Burn” in “Hamilton” : ELIZA
Elizabeth “Eliza” Schuyler Hamilton was the wife of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Eliza was with her husband when he passed away the day after his famous duel with Vice President Aaron Burr.

“Hamilton” is a 2015 musical based on the life or US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as described in the 2004 biography by Ron Chernow. The representations of the main characters is decidedly ground-breaking. The show is rooted in hip-hop and the main roles such as Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are all played by African-American and Hispanic actors.

23. Hearty drink : QUAFF
“Quaff” is both a verb and a noun. One quaffs (takes a hearty drink) of a quaff (a hearty drink).

25. Everyone, in Dixie : Y’ALL
“Dixie” is a nickname sometimes used for the American South, and often specifically for the original 11 states that seceded from the Union just prior to the Civil War. It’s apparently not certain how the name “Dixie” came about. One theory is that it comes from the term “dixie” which was used for currency issued by banks in Louisiana. The 10-dollar bills had the word “dix” on the reverse side, the French for “ten”. From the banknote, the French speaking area around New Orleans came to be known as Dixieland, and from there “Dixie” came to apply to the South in general.

35. First winner of horse racing’s Triple Crown, 1919 : SIR BARTON
Sir Barton was the first ever winner of the American Triple Crown (the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes), achieving the feat in 1919.

36. Disguised, briefly : INCOG
“Incog” is short for “incognito”, the Italian for “unknown”.

41. President after Grant : HAYES
Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th president of the US. Long before we had to endure the dispute over the 2000 Presidential election, Rutherford Hayes found himself president after a disputed election in 1876. President Hayes came into office having lost the popular vote to his opponent Samuel Tilden as he was voted into office by one electoral college vote. Hayes was awarded the election in the end because of an informal deal struck between Democrats and Republicans called the Compromise of 1877. Democrats allowed Rutherford to occupy the White House in exchange for removal of federal troops occupying some of the southern states.

Ulysses S. Grant had been a career soldier when he was elected as the 18th president of the US, and had risen to commander of all the Union armies by the end of the Civil War. Grant served two terms as president, and also made a failed bid for a third term. Grant’s reputation was tarnished by his apparent tolerance of corruption in his administration. On the other hand, Grant worked hard to protect African Americans during Reconstruction after the Civil War, and pursued peaceful relations with Native Americans.

47. “The Simpsons” bus driver : OTTO
Otto Mann drives the school bus on the TV show “The Simpsons”. Otto is a Germanic character voiced by Harry Shearer, and his name is a play on “Ottoman Empire”. Whenever Bart sees him, he greets Otto with the words “Otto, man!”

49. Devon cathedral city : EXETER
Exeter is a historic city in the county of Devon in the southwest of England. The city takes its name from the river on which it lies, the River Exe.

52. Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May,” e.g. : B-SIDE
“Maggie May” is a wonderful 1971 song recorded and co-written by Rod Stewart. Stewart tells us that the story told in “Maggie May” is basically true, and was inspired by the first woman with whom Stewart had a relationship, at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival in 1961.

57. Maki, temaki or uramaki : SUSHI
Sushi is a Japanese dish that has as its primary ingredient cooked, vinegared rice. The rice is usually topped with something, most often fish, and can be served in seaweed rolls. If you want raw fish by itself, then you have to order “sashimi”.

62. Prefix with planet : EXO-
An exoplanet is simply a planet that exists outside of our own solar system. Astronomers have detected thousands of exoplanets, most of which are quite large (the size of Jupiter), no doubt because bigger planets are easier to find.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Pulling a rabbit out of a hat, e.g. : MAGIC
6. Kazakhstan’s ___ Sea : ARAL
10. Computer company with the slogan “Explore beyond limits” : ACER
14. Embarrass : ABASH
15. Was a passenger : RODE
16. It’s always getting stepped on : SOLE
17. Sign of life : PULSE
18. *Vessel with a large hold : CARGO SHIP (giving “ship in a bottle”)
20. Camera part : LENS
22. “Seinfeld” stock character? : SOUP NAZI
23. *What a family spends together at the dinner table : QUALITY TIME (giving “Time in a Bottle”)
26. Competitor of Secret : BAN
27. Predecessor of the CW : UPN
28. Mauna ___ : LOA
29. Scout’s shelter : TENT
31. Back on a boat : AFT
32. Hilarity, in Internet-speak : LOLZ
34. One side of the Pacific : ASIA
38. *Branches in a storm? : FORKED LIGHTNING (giving “Lightning in a Bottle”)
43. 6’11” Channing of the N.B.A. : FRYE
44. Partridge’s tree, in a Christmas song : PEAR
45. Color TV pioneer : RCA
46. Put together, as a team : YOKE
50. Ham on ___ : RYE
51. Singer Scaggs with the 1976 hit “Lowdown” : BOZ
52. Front of a boat : BOW
55. *Its arrival may be signaled by a ding : TEXT MESSAGE (giving “message in a bottle”)
58. So-called “house wine of the South” : SWEET TEA
60. What you might use when you say “Giddyup!” : SPUR
61. Words that can follow the ends of the answers to the starred clues : … IN A BOTTLE
63. Sean who played Mikey in “The Goonies” : ASTIN
66. Band with the hit “Whip It” : DEVO
67. Pope who excommunicated Martin Luther : LEO X
68. Elbow, maybe : SHOVE
69. Garden of ___ : EDEN
70. Puzzlemaker Rubik : ERNO
71. Strength : SINEW

Down
1. Help at the entrance to a mall : MAP
2. Aladdin’s monkey : ABU
3. Courage in battle : GALLANTRY
4. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Dan : ISSEL
5. Plush fabric : CHENILLE
6. Eyebrow’s shape, roughly : ARC
7. Criticize severely : ROAST
8. Skillful : ADROIT
9. Peanut, for one : LEGUME
10. One of the A’s in N.A.A.C.P.: Abbr. : ASSN
11. Roomie : COHAB
12. Woman who sings “Burn” in “Hamilton” : ELIZA
13. Affix again, as a badge : REPIN
19. Word before air, fire or water : OPEN
21. Tolerated : STOOD
23. Hearty drink : QUAFF
24. Willing to do : UP FOR
25. Everyone, in Dixie : Y’ALL
30. Give a lickin’ : TAN
33. “___ your lip!” : ZIP
35. First winner of horse racing’s Triple Crown, 1919 : SIR BARTON
36. Disguised, briefly : INCOG
37. Staring : AGAZE
39. Item that might be fervently wanted by a prisoner : KEY
40. Start of an idea : GERM
41. President after Grant : HAYES
42. Encroach on someone’s land : TRESPASS
47. “The Simpsons” bus driver : OTTO
48. “That’s a fine ___ of fish!” : KETTLE
49. Devon cathedral city : EXETER
52. Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May,” e.g. : B-SIDE
53. Had title to : OWNED
54. Work on a loom : WEAVE
56. Hawk’s hook : TALON
57. Maki, temaki or uramaki : SUSHI
59. Black, in poetry : EBON
62. Prefix with planet : EXO-
64. “Now ___ seen it all!” : I’VE
65. Just-minted : NEW

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7 thoughts on “0131-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 31 Jan 17, Tuesday”

  1. 18:22(!) at the point when I finally changed BOP / AGAPE to BOZ / AGAZE. Earlier (but I don't know the exact time), I had filled in the last square by putting in the "B" of SIR BARTON (an educated guess, since I didn't actually know the horse's name). At that point, I got the "Almost there" message and foolishly assumed that the "B" must be wrong, so I tried various other letters in place of the "B" before finally realizing the error must be somewhere else, and it then took some additional time to find the actual error, as I'd never heard of BOZ Scaggs, either. (Does he have a brother Ricky in the US? … 🙂

    I'd say this one was a bit difficult for a Tuesday, what with the Natick and all …

  2. Definitely tough for a Tuesday. I actually remember BOZ Scaggs so no issues there.

    My issue was thinking Maggie May was a BrIDE which led to a mess. SWEET TEA took me much longer than it should have as a result. SWEET TEA is very popular here in Houston, but I can't stand it. Tea and coffee are unsweetened drinks and need to be to taste them fully. If I want something sweet, I'll drink a pepsi…..

    I've been reading Bill's blog long enough to know peanuts are LEGUMES. So that one gave me a chuckle.

    Best –

  3. Tough for Tues. I knew BOZ since Hubster likes him.

    I had to Google thrice: 2 sports – FRYE and ISSEL, and for UPN.

    Then there were others I didn't really know, but appeared: ASTIN, ACER, ABU, EXOPLANET and LOLZ.

    @ Jeff – I also was working on a silly mistake. For some reason I thought SOUP NAZI was part of the theme and wondered what NAZI IN A BOTTLE was.

  4. Two good early week puzzles in a row. Start of a trend maybe? Liked this one a lot, much as yesterday's. Familiar with LOL, but not with a Z at the end. ZIP took care of that. The other Z, in BOZ/AGAZE crossing was apparent because I'm familiar with Mr. Scaggs.

  5. 11:44, two errors where LEOX and EXO cross. I didn't know any popes went 10 deep, so…. *shrug*

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