0310-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 10 Mar 17, Friday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Pawel Fludzinski
THEME: None
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 13m 52s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

15. Gelato alternative : ITALIAN ICE
A sno-cone (also “snow cone”) is just a paper cone filled with crushed ice and topped with flavored water. Italian ice is similar, but different. Whereas the flavoring is added on top of the ice to make a sno-cone, Italian ice is made with water that is flavored before it is frozen.

Gelato (plural “gelati”) is the Italian version of American ice cream, differing in that it has a lower butterfat content than its US counterpart.

17. Pioneer in heliocentric theory : COPERNICUS
Nicolaus Copernicus was an astronomer active during the Renaissance. Copernicus was the first person to propose that the Earth and the planets revolved around the Sun.

19. Baht : Thailand :: ___ : Laos : KIP
The kip has been the unit of currency in Laos since 1952. One kip is divided into 100 att.

The baht is the currency of Thailand, and is subdivided into 100 satang.

20. +, $ or @ : SIGN
The “$” sign was first used for the Spanish American peso, in the late 18th century. The peso was also called the “Spanish dollar” (and “piece of eight”). The Spanish dollar was to become the model for the US dollar that was adopted in 1785, along with the “$” sign.

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.

25. San Francisco’s ___ Tower : COIT
Coit Tower is a renowned memorial in San Francisco that sits atop Telegraph Hill. The full name of the structure is the Lillian Coit Memorial Tower, recognizing a generous bequest to the city by wealthy socialite Lillie Hitchcock Coit. There is an urban myth in these parts that the tower was designed to resemble the nozzle of a fire hose, as Lillie used to like chasing fires and hanging out with firefighters.

28. End of a letter : SERIF
Serifs are details on the ends of characters in some typefaces. Typefaces without serifs are known as sans-serif, using the French word “sans” meaning “without” and “serif” from the Dutch “schreef” meaning “line”. Some people say that serif fonts are easier to read on paper, whereas sans-serif fonts work better on a computer screen. I’m not so sure though …

35. Jeanne d’Arc, e.g.: Abbr. : STE
Joan of Arc (also “Jeanne d’Arc”, her birth name) led the French Army successfully into battle a number of times during the Hundred Years War with England. When she was eventually captured, Joan was tried in Rouen, the seat of the occupying English government in France at that time. There she was burned at the stake having been found guilty of heresy. In fact, after the fire died down, the executioner raked the coals to display the charred body, proving Joan had died, and then burned the corpse again, twice, so that relics could not be collected. The remaining ashes were then cast into the Seine River. Joan of Arc was canonized some 600 years later, in 1920, and is now one of the patron saints of France.

38. Raptors’ home: Abbr. : TOR
The Raptors are the NBA basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario.

40. Second-in-command at a corp. : COO
Chief operating officer (COO)

41. Leonardo da Vinci drawing featuring superimposed body positions : VITRUVIAN MAN
You know that drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, of a man with his arms outstretched, confined in a circle? Well, that drawing is known as the Vitruvian Man. Da Vinci was trying to illustrate the thesis by Roman architect Vitruvius, that pleasing architectural proportions were related to proportions found in the human boy.

46. They roll in : TIDES
Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the oceans. At neap tide, the smaller gravitational effect of the sun cancels out some of the moon’s effect. At spring tide, the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces act in concert causing more extreme movement of the oceans.

54. Senate majority leader who succeeded Dole : LOTT
Trent Lott is a political figure who first went to Washington to work as an administrative assistant to Representative William M. Colmer, from Mississippi. After four years working for Colmer, Lott ran for the House seat that Colmer was to leave vacant on his retirement. Colmer endorsed Lott in that election, even though Colmer was a Democrat and Lott ran as a Republican. Lott won the race very handily, launching a 35-year career representing his home state of Mississippi in both the House and the Senate. Lott eventually ran into trouble for remarks he made that were interpreted as being racially motivated, and ended up resigning in 2007.

55. The house of Versace? : LA CASA
Gianni Versace was an Italian fashion designer. His death was perhaps as famous as his life. He was murdered in 1997 outside his mansion in Miami Beach by Andrew Cunanan. It is not certain that Cunanan knew who his victim was, as this was the last in a spree of five murders committed by him over a four month period. A few days after killing Versace, Cunanan used the same gun to commit suicide.

59. Bucolic expanse : LEA
The word “bucolic”, meaning rustic or rural, comes to us from the Greek word “boukolos” meaning “cowherd”.

61. John Nash’s field of mathematics : GAME THEORY
The wonderful 2001 movie “A Beautiful Mind” is of course based on a true story, but it is also a screenplay adapted from a very successful book of the same name written by Sylvia Nasar. Both book and film tell the life story of John Nash (played by Russell Crowe on the big screen). Nash was a mathematician and Nobel Laureate who struggled with paranoid schizophrenia.

Down
2. Cannes star : ETOILE
Cannes is a city on the French Riviera that is noted as host of the Cannes Film Festival. The decision to host an annual film festival was adopted by the city just before WWII. However, the festival had to wait for the end of the war for its launch in 1946.

3. CNN newsman Jake : TAPPER
Jake Tapper is a journalist working for CNN as Chief Washington Correspondent. Tapper is also a cartoonist. He wrote a comic strip called “Capitol Hell” that appeared in the Washington, DC paper “Roll Call” from 1994 to 2003.

4. Copa Mundial cry : OLE!
In Spanish, supporters might be heard yelling “ole!” at the “Copa Mundial” (World Cup) of soccer.

7. Covent Garden architect Jones : INIGO
Inigo Jones was a British architect, and a native of London. The most famous Jones’s design is probably London’s Covent Garden Square.

Covent Garden in London’s West End is associated with the Royal Opera House that is located in the area, and with the former fruit and vegetable market that used to sit right at the center of the district. The name “Covent Garden” comes from the fact that there once was a walled garden in the area owned by the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey of St. Peter in Westminster. The abbey rented out the walled garden calling it “Convent Garden”, and this morphed into the area’s current name.

8. Spreads out in a park? : PICNICS
Our term “picnic” comes from the French word that now has the same meaning, namely “pique-nique”. The original “pique-nique” was a fashionable pot-luck affair, and not necessarily held outdoors.

9. Euro forerunner : ECU
The European Currency Unit (ECU) was an interim unit of account used in the European Community for just over ten years before the Euro was launched in 1999. The ECU existed alongside the legacy European currencies as the Community worked to stabilize exchange rates in the run-up to the Euro’s launch.

11. Shia who’s not a Muslim : LABEOUF
Shia LaBeouf is an actor who started out in the Disney television series “Even Stevens”. Adult audiences might be more familiar with his leading role in the 2003 film “Holes”.

The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favoured the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.

13. Cayenne’s hotter cousin : HABANERO
The habanero chili has a very intense flavor. Interestingly, the correct spelling of the chili’s name is “habanero”, although in English we try to be clever and add a tilde making it “habañero”, which isn’t right at all …

34. Hector’s father : PRIAM
Priam was king of Troy during the Trojan War. Reputedly, Priam was father to fifty sons and many daughters with his many wives. His eldest son and heir to the throne was Hector. Paris was another of Priam’s sons, the man who caused the Trojan War by eloping with Helen, Queen of Sparta.

As described in Homer’s “Iliad”, Hector was a Trojan prince and a great fighter. Hector was slain during the Trojan War, as the Greeks lay siege to Troy. If we are to believe the 2004 film “Troy”, Hector actually died at the hands of Achilles, while fighting a duel. Homer’s “Iliad” is less specific about the circumstances of Hector’s death.

36. Certain chemistry lab apparatus : TITRATOR
Titration is a laboratory technique used to determine the concentration of a particular solution. We probably all did titrations in school, using a burette.

37. Immanuel Kant, for one : ETHICIST
Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century, German philosopher. Kant published “Perpetual Peace” in 1795, laying out what he believed were conditions for ending all wars and creating a lasting peace. The good news for us is that one of these conditions was to have a world full of constitutional republics, so it seems we are on the right track here in the US!

52. “Brigadoon” composer : LOEWE
Frederick Loewe was a composer best known for his collaborations with the lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, the most famous of which were “My Fair Lady”, “Gigi” and “Camelot”.

“Brigadoon” is a Lerner and Loewe stage musical about a Scottish village that only appears for one day every one hundred years. “Brigadoon” was made into a movie in 1954, starring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse.

56. Ottoman chiefs : AGAS
“Aga” (also “agha”) is a title that was used by both civil and military officials in the Ottoman Empire.

62. Cardinals’ home: Abbr. : ARI
The Arizona Cardinals were founded in 1898 as the Chicago Cardinals. That makes the Cardinals the oldest, continuously-run professional football team in the whole country.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Powerful singer’s asset, informally : SET OF PIPES
11. Prophet in the Book of Mormon : LEHI
15. Gelato alternative : ITALIAN ICE
16. Like ___ of worms : A CAN
17. Pioneer in heliocentric theory : COPERNICUS
18. Fishing floats : BOBS
19. Baht : Thailand :: ___ : Laos : KIP
20. +, $ or @ : SIGN
21. Observed visiting : SEEN AT
23. Imperial sticks, say : OLEO
25. San Francisco’s ___ Tower : COIT
27. Dismal turnout : NO ONE
28. End of a letter : SERIF
30. Backstage Broadway worker : COSTUMER
32. Unmitigated disaster, in slang : DUMPSTER FIRE
35. Jeanne d’Arc, e.g.: Abbr. : STE
38. Raptors’ home: Abbr. : TOR
39. Shoebox spec : EEE
40. Second-in-command at a corp. : COO
41. Leonardo da Vinci drawing featuring superimposed body positions : VITRUVIAN MAN
45. Very light : ETHEREAL
46. They roll in : TIDES
50. Erie or Miami : TRIBE
51. D.C. tourist destination : MALL
54. Senate majority leader who succeeded Dole : LOTT
55. The house of Versace? : LA CASA
57. Vanquish : ROUT
59. Bucolic expanse : LEA
60. Having a scrap : AT IT
61. John Nash’s field of mathematics : GAME THEORY
64. Narrow margin : NOSE
65. A question of cosmology : ARE WE ALONE?
66. Mime and puppetry, e.g. : ARTS
67. Went door to door? : SIDESWIPED

Down
1. Twisted types : SICKOS
2. Cannes star : ETOILE
3. CNN newsman Jake : TAPPER
4. Copa Mundial cry : OLE!
5. You may visit a lot of them before Christmas : FIRS
6. Kind of attack : PANIC
7. Covent Garden architect Jones : INIGO
8. Spreads out in a park? : PICNICS
9. Euro forerunner : ECU
10. Time in therapy, e.g.: Abbr. : SESS
11. Shia who’s not a Muslim : LABEOUF
12. Cost-effective : ECONOMIC
13. Cayenne’s hotter cousin : HABANERO
14. Like much FM radio : IN STEREO
22. Implore : ENTREAT
24. Human appendage? : -OID
26. “Count ___” (calming advice) : TO TEN
29. They’re traded in the Chicago Board of Trade : FUTURES
31. Feel : SEEM
33. Affect : MOVE
34. Hector’s father : PRIAM
35. 2015 Literature Nobelist Alexievich : SVETLANA
36. Certain chemistry lab apparatus : TITRATOR
37. Immanuel Kant, for one : ETHICIST
42. Purchase incentives : REBATES
43. In a 6-Down : ALARMED
44. It’s nothing : NIL
47. Bit of computer programming executed repeatedly : DO-LOOP
48. Perpetual, poetically : ETERNE
49. Didn’t take off : STAYED
52. “Brigadoon” composer : LOEWE
53. Theorbos, e.g. : LUTES
56. Ottoman chiefs : AGAS
58. Soften : THAW
62. Cardinals’ home: Abbr. : ARI
63. “My God!,” as cried by Jesus : ELI

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7 thoughts on “0310-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 10 Mar 17, Friday”

  1. 14:27, no errors. For me, the "P" at the intersection of KIP and TAPPER was an educated guess that turned out to be correct. Also, I was surprised that VITRUVIAN MAN was a near-gimmee for me, as I hadn't thought of it in years; maybe I still have a few functioning brain cells, after all … 🙂

  2. I made several educated guesses. Guessed SVETLANA because of the Russian surname. Had STL for Cardinals' home forever until I gave up and tried PHX. Finally remembered it's ARI(zona). Sheesh. Kind of liked the clue "Shia who is not a Muslim."

    Got VITRUVIAN MAN on crosses and guile alone. I wanted to say Vesuvian Man, but it didn't fit.

    Interesting that SVETLANA is a female name. Alexievich is a patronymic that means "son of Alexei". I guess that got adopted as a surname somewhere in her lineage. Alexeivna would be the female ordinarily.

    Overall nice challenge. Time was a tad longer than LAT today.

    Bill – no worries about the blog timing. No internet signal and/or Guinness is always a good excuse..

    Best –

  3. 18:52, no errors. Several very challenging clues, just enough familiar trivia to keep me going.

  4. 28:37 and a single letter wrong, producing 2 errors.

    Very challenging Friday puzzle, with a lot of very esoteric fills. Had to guess several times! SVETLANA just emerged out of the fog, and the bottom right was a real juggling act to fill in. Did not like the "D.C. tourist destination" clue, as the abbreviated District of Columbia suggested some acronym, like a museum of arts (e.g., MOMA) or some such. Somehow pieced it together…..

  5. Found it on the easy side today, but tripped up and the VITRUVIANMAN/TITRATOR cross, guessing at an e instead of an I.

  6. Not too hard for a Friday. Nice clues. I got SETOFPIPES automatically after seeing the clue. I am pretty familiar with the VITRUVIANMAN, but I don't remember why. We got a kick out of AREWEALONE and SIDESWIPED. Lots of fun today.

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