0316-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 16 Mar 17, Thursday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Pipe with a tube : HOOKAH
A hookah is a waterpipe, a device for smoking tobacco in which the smoke is passed through a water basin before it is inhaled.

22. Christopher Hitchens and Marcel Proust, for two : ESSAYISTS
Christopher Hitchens was a British author and journalist who lived and worked in the US from the early 1980s. Hitchens was a controversial figure who regularly expressed his contrarian views on issues ranging from politics to religion.

Marcel Proust was a French writer, noted for his enormous and much respected novel “In Search of Lost Time”. Graham Greene called Proust “the greatest novelist of the twentieth century”, and W. Somerset Maugham dubbed “In Search of Lost Time” as the “greatest fiction to date”. “In Search of Lost Time” is a very, very long novel. It is divided into seven volumes and was first published in 1913-1927. The first of the volumes is called “Swann’s Way”.

26. Played at a party, say : DJED
The world’s first radio disc jockey 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.

29. He portrayed Steve Wozniak in “Steve Jobs” : SETH ROGEN
Seth Rogen is a Canadian comedian who got a lot of credit for his supporting role in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”. That led to him being cast as the lead in the 1970 film “Knocked Up”. More recently, Rogen co-directed and and co-starred in the movie “The Interview”, which created a huge ruckus in North Korea.

Steve Wozniak was one of the founders of Apple Computer, along with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne. Wozniak was the driving force behind the creation of the Apple I and Apple II computers that revolutionized the computer market in the seventies.

33. Org. whose website has a “Know Your Rights” tab : ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has its roots in the First World War when it was founded to provide legal advice and support to conscientious objectors. The ACLU’s motto is “Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself”. The ACLU also hosts a blog on the ACLU.org website called “Speak Freely”.

34. Narrow grooves : STRIAE
A stria (plural “striae”) is a linear mark or groove on a surface, often one of a series of parallel lines.

35. Opposite of weather, on a ship : LEE
“Alee” is the direction away from the wind. If a sailor points into the wind, he or she is pointing “aweather”.

52. Large wire : ASSOCIATED PRESS (CIA is REDACTED)
The Associated Press (AP) is a news agency based in New York City. AP is a non-profit cooperative that was set up by five New York newspapers in 1846 to share the cost of transmitting news. Nowadays, AP recoups most of its cost by selling news stories and related materials to newspapers all around the world, mostly outside of the US.

65. “Bacchus and Ariadne” painter, circa 1523 : TITIAN
“Bacchus and Ariadne” is an oil painting by Italian Renaissance painter Titian that can be seen in the National Gallery in London.

66. Used a black marker on … or a hint to three chunks of black squares in this puzzle : REDACTED
Our word “redact”, meaning to revise or edit, comes from the past participle of the Latin “redigere” meaning “to reduce”.

Down
1. Counterpart of JavaScript : HTML
HTML is HyperText Markup Language, the language used to write most Internet web pages (including this one).

JavaScript is a computer programming language that is mainly used as an integral part of web browsers. The language was developed at Netscape in the days of the Browser Wars with Microsoft. It was developed under the codename Mocha and the first official release was called LiveScript. The name was changed to JavaScript in a blatant attempt by Netscape to cash in on the reputation of Sun Microsystem’s Java language.

4. Acted sycophantically : KISSED UP
A sycophant is a selfish person, one who flatters. The term comes from the Greek “sykophantes” which originally meant “one who shows the fig”. This phrase described a vulgar gesture made with the thumb and two fingers.

10. Asian holiday : TET
The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

20. Big ___ Conference : EAST
The Big East collegiate athletic conference was founded in 1979. The conference went through a major realignment between 2010 and 2013 with 14 schools departing, and 15 schools joining the lineup.

23. “Lord, is ___?” : IT I
At the Last Supper, Jesus told his apostles that one of them would betray him that day. According to the Gospel of Matthew:

And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

27. Rapper with the 2013 #1 album “Born Sinner” : J COLE
J. Cole is the stage name of American rap artist Jermaine Cole. J. Cole was born in Germany, on the US Army base in Frankfurt.

28. Page in a Hollywood script? : ELLEN
Canadian actress Ellen Page came to prominence playing the female lead in the 2007 hit film “Juno”. Page also played the female lead in one of my favorite films of the past few years, 2010’s “Inception”.

31. Counting word : EENIE

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch the tiger/monkey/baby by the toe.
If it hollers/screams let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you are it!

34. Like river deltas : SILTY
A river delta is a triangular landform at the mouth of a river created by the deposition of sediment. The most famous “delta” in the United States isn’t actually a delta at all. The Mississippi Delta is an alluvial plain that lies 300 miles north of the river’s actual delta, which is known as the Mississippi River Delta. Very confusing …

39. It’s “rarely pure and never simple,” per Oscar Wilde : THE TRUTH
If you didn’t know Oscar Wilde was Irish, you will when you see the name he was given at birth: Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde!

42. The Richard in a Shakespeare title : III
“Richard III” is one of the more famous of William Shakespeare’s historical plays. A well-known 1955 version of the play was made for the big screen with Laurence Olivier playing the title role. The most oft-quoted words from “Richard III” are probably the opening lines “Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this sun of York”, and Richard’s plea at the climax of battle “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!”

44. “Picnic” playwright : INGE
Playwright William Inge had a run of success on Broadway in the early fifties. Inge’s most celebrated work of that time was the play “Picnic”, for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The original 1953 cast of “Picnic” included a young male actor making his debut on Broadway. His name was Paul Newman. Many of Inge’s works are set in the American heartland and so he became known as the “Playwright of the Midwest”.

47. Nova ___ : SCOTIA
The Canadian province of Nova Scotia (NS) lies on the east coast of the country and is a peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. The area was settled by Scots starting in 1621, and Nova Scotia is Latin for “New Scotland”.

58. IDs that are often not displayed in full: Abbr. : SSNS
Social Security number (SSN)

60. G.O.P. org. : RNC
National leadership of the Republican Party is provided by the Republican National Committee (RNC). Only one chairperson of the RNC has been elected to the office of US president, and that was George H. W. Bush.

The Republican Party has had the nickname Grand Old Party (GOP) since 1875. That said, the phrase was coined in the “Congressional Record” as “this gallant old party”. The moniker was changed to “grand old party” in 1876 in an article in the “Cincinnati Commercial”. The Republican Party’s elephant mascot dates back to an 1874 cartoon drawn by Thomas Nast for “Harper’s Weekly”. The Democrat’s donkey was already an established symbol. Nast drew a donkey clothed in a lion’s skin scaring away the other animals. One of the scared animals was an elephant, which Nast labeled “The Republican Vote”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Pipe with a tube : HOOKAH
7. Like out-of-range stations : STATICKY
15. Three times : THRICE
16. Part of many a wreath : PINE CONE
17. “Aren’t you glad I’m back?” : MISS ME?
18. Place with picnic tables, often : REST AREA
19. Student’s note-taking aid : LOOSELEAF BINDER (FBI is REDACTED)
22. Christopher Hitchens and Marcel Proust, for two : ESSAYISTS
26. Played at a party, say : DJED
29. He portrayed Steve Wozniak in “Steve Jobs” : SETH ROGEN
33. Org. whose website has a “Know Your Rights” tab : ACLU
34. Narrow grooves : STRIAE
35. Opposite of weather, on a ship : LEE
36. Eco-friendly seafood designation : DOLPHIN-SAFE TUNA (NSA is REDACTED)
40. It might come from a tap : ALE
41. Draw out : ELICIT
45. Prince, for one : HEIR
46. Hit : SENSATION
48. Hawks have sharp ones : EYES
49. Yelling : CRYING OUT
52. Large wire : ASSOCIATED PRESS (CIA is REDACTED)
59. Sprint, e.g. : FOOTRACE
63. Gets away from : ELUDES
64. Not seriously : ALL IN FUN
65. “Bacchus and Ariadne” painter, circa 1523 : TITIAN
66. Used a black marker on … or a hint to three chunks of black squares in this puzzle : REDACTED
67. Unspecified group : OTHERS

Down
1. Counterpart of JavaScript : HTML
2. Home to Bowling Green : OHIO
3. Roundabouts : OR SO
4. Acted sycophantically : KISSED UP
5. Peaks : ACMES
6. Prom wear, for some : HEELS
7. Pesticide applier : SPRAYER
8. 7-up, for example : TIE
9. True or false: Abbr. : ANS
10. Asian holiday : TET
11. “Don’t doubt me!” : I CAN SO!
12. Drawstring, e.g. : CORD
13. Attack in an underhanded way : KNEE
14. Name tag info at an alumni event : YEAR
20. Big ___ Conference : EAST
23. “Lord, is ___?” : IT I
24. Arrow part : SHAFT
25. Skier’s obstacle : TREE
26. Fathers, to babies : DADAS
27. Rapper with the 2013 #1 album “Born Sinner” : J COLE
28. Page in a Hollywood script? : ELLEN
30. Mucilaginous : GLUEY
31. Counting word : EENIE
32. Verges on : NEARS
34. Like river deltas : SILTY
37. Catch, in a way : HEAR
39. It’s “rarely pure and never simple,” per Oscar Wilde : THE TRUTH
42. The Richard in a Shakespeare title : III
43. Struggle (with) : CONTEND
44. “Picnic” playwright : INGE
47. Nova ___ : SCOTIA
50. Poem title starter : ODE TO …
51. Like many monuments at night : UPLIT
52. Place to worship from : AFAR
53. Lone : SOLE
54. Completely convinced : SOLD
56. Woman’s name that sounds like its first two letters : EDIE
57. Put over high heat : SEAR
58. IDs that are often not displayed in full: Abbr. : SSNS
60. G.O.P. org. : RNC
61. Back at sea : AFT
62. It has a tip for game-playing : CUE

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