0426-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 26 Apr 17, Wednesday

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CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTOR: Trenton Charlson
THEME: Dos Equis
Each of today’s themed answers includes DOS EQUIS (two letters X).

64A. Beer brand whose logo hints at the answers to 17-, 19-, 38-, 43- and 61-Across : DOS EQUIS

17A. “Sanford and Son” star of 1970s TV : REDD FOXX
19A. High-end shampoo brand : NEXXUS
38A. Shot blocker? : ANTI-VAXXER
43A. BP rival : EXXONMOBIL
61A. Sister chain of Marshalls : TJ MAXX

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 8m 15s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

5. Police alert, for short : APB
An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

8. Candy often used in science fair volcanoes : MENTOS
Mentos are mints made by the Italian confectioner Perfetti Van Melle. You might have seen video of Mentos mints being dropped into bottle containing a carbonated drink. The surface of the mint causes an explosive release of carbon dioxide resulting in a geyser of foam that can shoot many feet up into the air.

14. Proactiv target : ACNE
The Proactiv range of skincare products were introduced in 1995 by two dermatologists who met up with each other while studying at Stanford. Proactiv is market to people suffering with acne. There are quite a few folks who complain about the direct marketing approach to sales used for the products. Customers are “members” of a club, and the products keep coming until a subscription is canceled.

15. Sound that might be heard in a 16-Across : COO
16. It’s for the birds : AVIARY
An aviary is a large cage that houses birds. “Avis” is Latin for bird.

17. “Sanford and Son” star of 1970s TV : REDD FOXX
Redd Foxx was the stage name of John Elroy Sanford, best known for starring in “Sanford and Son”. “Sanford and Son” was an American version of a celebrated hit BBC sitcom that I grew up with in Ireland, called “Steptoe and Son”.

19. High-end shampoo brand : NEXXUS
Nexxus is a brand of hair-care products that was developed by Alberto-Culver, and which now is made by Unilever.

25. Warning letters next to a link : NSFW
The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. It’s Internet slang used to describe online content that is best not viewed at work.

37. Brand in the pet food aisle : ALPO
Alpo is a brand of dog food first produced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?

38. Shot blocker? : ANTI-VAXXER
“Anti-vaxxers” is a term that applies to members of the anti-vaccination movement.

42. Grenache, for one : VIN ROSE
Rosé wines get their color from the skins of the grapes, although the intensity of the color is not sufficient to make them red wines. Of the varying type of rosé wines available, we are most familiar with sweet White Zinfandels. Personally I am fond of the really dry Provençal rosé wines.

Grenache is red wine grape variety, and the major constituent of wines from the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region in France (my favorites). Grenache is also used to make rosé wines in the Cotes du Rhone region (also a favorite of mine).

43. BP rival : EXXONMOBIL
The Exxon Corporation was a descendant of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company. Exxon merged with Mobil (yet another descendant of Standard Oil) in 1999 to form ExxonMobil.

BP is an oil and gas company headquartered in London, UK. BP started out as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909 with the remit of exploiting oil discovered in Iran. The company name was changed to British Petroleum in 1954, and today the name used is simply “BP”.

45. ___ Domini : ANNO
The designations Anno Domini (AD, “year of Our Lord”) and Before Christ (BC) are found in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The dividing point between AD and BC is the year of the conception of Jesus, with AD 1 following 1 BC without a year “0” in between. The AD/BC scheme dates back to AD 525, and gained wide acceptance soon after AD 800. Nowadays a modified version has become popular, with CE (Common/Christian Era) used to replace AD, and BCE (Before the Common/Christian Era) used to replace BC.

46. Coastal indentation : RIA
A drowned valley might be called a ria or a fjord, with both formed as sea level rises. A ria is a drowned valley created by river erosion, and a fjord is a drowned valley created by glaciation.

47. “The Times They Are a-Changin'” songwriter : DYLAN
“The Times They Are A-Changin’” is the title track of a 1964 Bob Dylan album. Dylan wrote the song in 1963 as a deliberate attempt to create and anthem of change to suit the times. Sadly, he was right. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated just one month after Dylan recorded the song.

48. Big name in vacuum cleaners : DYSON
Dyson vacuum cleaners do not use a bag to collect dust. James Dyson invented the first vacuum cleaner to use cyclonic separation in 1979, frustrated at the poor performance of his regular vacuum cleaner. As Dyson cleaners do not use bags, they don’t have to deal with collection bags that are blocked with fine dust particles, even after emptying. Cyclonic separation uses high speed spinning of the dust-containing air so that the dust particles are thrown out of the airflow into a collection bin. We have a Dyson now, and should have bought it years ago …

51. Hostility, in British slang : AGGRO
“Aggro” is term that we use a lot in Ireland, probably more so than in the UK. It can mean an “annoyance” (and short for “aggravation”) but is more often used to mean “trouble”, as in someone caused trouble, created aggro.

56. Cuneiform discovery site : AMARNA
Armana is an archaeological site on the east bank of the Nile River in Egypt, almost 200 miles south of Cairo. The ancient city is also known as el-Armana, and Tel el-Armana, although the use of “Tel” is apparently incorrect. “Tel” commonly appears in names in the region (Arabic for “hill”), but should not apply to Amarna as the site is perfectly flat.

Cuneiform writing is a very early form of written expression that uses characters that are variants of a wedge shape. The first form of cuneiform writing was developed in Sumer (in modern-day Iraq), and was largely a system of pictographs. Over time, the number of characters decreased and became smaller and simpler, until they eventually evolved into the characters that we use in alphabetic writing today.

61. Sister chain of Marshalls : TJ MAXX
TJ Maxx is a chain of department stores in the US, with outlets in Europe as well. Over in the UK, the stores are known as TK Maxx.

64. Beer brand whose logo hints at the answers to 17-, 19-, 38-, 43- and 61-Across : DOS EQUIS
Dos Equis lager was originally brewed in 1897, and back then was called “Siglo XX” (20th century) to celebrate the arrival of the new century. The name was changed later to simply “Dos Equis” (two exes).

67. Artist Jean who pioneered in Dadaism : ARP
Jean Arp was a French artist renowned for his work with torn and pasted paper, although that wasn’t the only medium he used. Arp was the son of a French mother and German father and spoke both languages fluently. When he was speaking German he gave his name as Hans Arp, but when speaking French he called himself Jean Arp. Both “Hans” and “Jean” translate into English as “John”. In WWI Arp moved to Switzerland to avoid being called up to fight, taking advantage of Swiss neutrality. Eventually he was told to report to the German Consulate and fill out paperwork for the draft. In order to get out of fighting, Arp messed up the paperwork by writing the date in every blank space on the forms. Then he took off all of his clothes and walked with his papers over to the officials in charge. Arp was sent home …

Dadaism thrived during and just after WWI, and was an anti-war, anti-bourgeois and anti-art culture. The movement began in Zurich, Switzerland started by a group of artists and writers who met to discuss art and put on performances in the Cabaret Voltaire, frequently expressing disgust at the war that was raging across Europe.

68. Relative of a tangelo : UGLI
The ugli fruit is a hybrid of an orange and a tangerine, first discovered growing wild in Jamaica where most ugli fruit comes from today. “UGLI” is a trademark name that is a variant of “ugly”, a nod to the fruits unsightly wrinkled rind.

The fruit called a tangelo is a hybrid between a tangerine and either a grapefruit or a pomelo (which gives its the name). A pomelo is a very large, pear-shaped citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia. The Jamaican form of tangelo is known as the ugli fruit.

69. Brewers’ fermenting agents : YEASTS
Yeasts are unicellular microorganisms in the Fungi kingdom. The species of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used for centuries in the making of wine and beer, and in breadmaking. Saccharomyces cerevisiae converts carbohydrates into carbon dioxide and alcohol in the process of fermentation. When making beer and wine, the carbon dioxide and alcohol may be captured by the liquid. When making bread, the carbon dioxide and alcohol is driven off by heat.

71. On the briny : ASEA
The “briny” is the sea, from “brine” meaning “salty water”. The term “briny” was originally used for “tears”.

Down
2. Drink brand with a polar bear symbol : ICEE
Slush Puppie and ICEE are brands of frozen, slushy drinks. Ostensibly competing brands, ICEE company now owns the Slush Puppie brand.

6. Curse : POX
A “pock” is an eruptive mark on the skin, usually caused by an infectious disease. The Middle English plural form “pokkes” gave rise to our term “pox”.

8. Oodles of : MANY
It’s thought that the term “oodles”, meaning “a lot”, comes from “kit and caboodle”.

10. U.S. president who becomes the president of future Earth on “Futurama” : NIXON
“Futurama” is a Fox animated sci-fi show that was co-created by cartoonist Matt Groening, who also created “The Simpsons”. I simply don’t understand either show …

12. Sch. in Tulsa : ORU
Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ORU was founded relatively recently, in 1963 by the late televangelist Oral Roberts. The campus includes a Prayer Tower at its center, a spectacular glass and steel structure designed by architect Frank Wallace. The tower includes an observation deck, and is a popular tourist attraction. The school’s sports teams are known as the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

13. Part of GPS: Abbr. : SYS
Global positioning system (GPS)

18. Decree : FIAT
A “fiat” is an arbitrary rule that is imposed, and is the Latin for “let it be done”.

24. Tourist transports in Venice : GONDOLAS
The city of Venice in northeast Italy is built in a saltwater lagoon on the Adriatic Coast, on 117 small islands. The classic transportation along the waterways is the gondola, but this is really only used for tourists these days, as well as on ceremonial occasions. The locals rely on the motorized water-buses.

26. Fifth-century invaders of England : SAXONS
Germanic tribes invaded Great Britain from the early 5th century and created the nation that we now call England. The Anglo-Saxons (sometimes simply “Saxons”), as these tribes came to be called, held sway in the country until 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Saxons were descendants of three Germanic tribes:

  • The Angles, from Angeln in Northern Germany (and the tribe that gave the name “England”).
  • The Saxons, from Lower Saxony and Holland.
  • The Jutes, from the Jutland peninsula in Denmark.

27. California city whose name is Spanish for “ash tree” : FRESNO
Fresno is the largest inland city in the whole state of California. The city was named for the many ash trees that lined the San Joaquin River, as “fresno” is the Spanish for “ash tree”.

29. City 20 miles NW of 27-Down : MADERA
The California city of Madera was founded in 1876 by the California Lumber Company. “Madera” is a Spanish word meaning “lumber”.

30. Quack medicine offering : ELIXIR
An elixir is a solution of alcohol and water that is used to deliver a medicine. The term “elixir” can also be used to mean a medicine that has the power to cure all ills.

A “quack” is a person who pretends to have knowledge that he or she does not in fact possess. The term especially applies to someone fraudulently pretending to have medical skills. Our modern word is an abbreviation of “quacksalver”, an archaic term with Dutch roots that translates as “hawker of salve”, Back in the Middle Ages, quacksalvers would shout out (quack) as they sold their pseudo-medical wares.

31. Culmination of a challenging H.S. course : AP EXAM
The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers college-level courses to kids who are still in high school. After being tested at the end of the courses, successful students receive credits that count towards a college degree.

32. Manhattan neighborhood next to the East Village : NOHO
NoHo is short for North of Houston (street), and is the equivalent area to SoHo, South of Houston, both of which are in New York City.

The East Village is a neighborhood of Manhattan lying between Broadway and the East River, extending from 14th Street in the northeast to Houston Street in the southwest. The area was known simply as the northern part of the Lower East Side until the 1960s, when the moniker “East Village” was applied in an effort to distinguish it from the Lower East Side and its less desirable reputation. The name chosen leveraged the established image of the neighboring Greenwich Village as Manhattan’s Bohemian capital.

35. Degree of expertise in martial arts : DAN
The “dan” ranking system is used in several Japanese and Korean martial arts. The dan ranking indicates a level of proficiency, and often only applies to practitioners who have already earned a black belt.

38. West Point team : ARMY
West Point is a military reservation in New York State, located north of New York City. West Point was first occupied by the Continental Army way back in 1778, making it the longest, continually-occupied military post in the country. Cadet training has taken place at the garrison since 1794, although Congress funding for a US Military Academy (USMA) didn’t start until 1802. The first female cadets were admitted to West Point in 1976, and today about 15% of all new cadets are women.

39. Discovery of Wilhelm Roentgen, which earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 : X-RAY
X-rays were first studied comprehensively by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (also “Roentgen”), and it was he who gave the name “X-rays” to this particular type of radiation. Paradoxically, in Röntgen’s native language of German, X-rays are routinely referred to as “Röntgen rays”. In 1901 Röntgen won the first Nobel Prize in Physics that was ever awarded, recognition for his work on X-rays.

44. Second-largest Arabic-speaking city after Cairo : BAGHDAD
According to the University of Baghdad, the name “Baghdad” dates way back, to the 18th-century BC (yes, BC!). The name can be translated into English from the language of ancient Babylon as “old garden” (bagh) and “beloved” (dad).

48. Taj Mahal feature : DOME
The most famous mausoleum in the world has to be the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal was built after the death of the fourth wife of Shah Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal (hence the name of the mausoleum). The poor woman died in childbirth delivering the couple’s 14th child. When Shah Jahan himself passed away 35 years later, he was buried beside his wife Mumtaz, in the Taj Mahal.

50. Poetry competitions : SLAMS
A poetry slam is a competition in which poets read their own work (usually), with winners being chosen by members of audience. Apparently the first poetry slam took place in Chicago in 1984. Now there is a Nation Poetry Slam that takes place each year, with representatives from the US, Canada and France.

59. River along which 56-Across is located : NILE
(56A. Cuneiform discovery site : AMARNA)
Depending on definition, the Nile is generally regarded as the longest river on the planet. The Nile forms from two major tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, which join together near Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. From Khartoum the Nile flows north, traveling almost entirely through desert making it central to life for the peoples living along its length.

60. It’s on one side of the Urals : ASIA
The eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia is generally regarded as the natural divide between the continents of Europe and Asia.

63. Extinct relative of the kiwi : MOA
Moas were flightless birds native to New Zealand that are now extinct. The fate of the Moa is a great example of the detrimental effect that humans can have on animal populations. The Maoris arrived in New Zealand about 1300 AD, upsetting the balance of the ecosystem. The Moa were hunted to extinction within 200 years, which had the knock-on effect of killing off the Haast’s Eagle, the Moa’s only predator prior to the arrival of man. Moas were huge creatures, measuring up to 12 feet tall with their necks stretched upwards.

The kiwi is an unusual bird in that it has a highly developed sense of smell and is the only one of our feathered friends with nostrils located at the tip of its long beak.

65. Hockey legend Bobby : ORR
Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Perspective : VIEW
5. Police alert, for short : APB
8. Candy often used in science fair volcanoes : MENTOS
14. Proactiv target : ACNE
15. Sound that might be heard in a 16-Across : COO
16. It’s for the birds : AVIARY
17. “Sanford and Son” star of 1970s TV : REDD FOXX
19. High-end shampoo brand : NEXXUS
20. General reply? : YES, SIR
21. Put one’s foot down : SAY NO
23. Subject of some “management” courses : ANGER
25. Warning letters next to a link : NSFW
29. Had in mind : MEANT
33. Rowed : OARED
36. Equal : ARE
37. Brand in the pet food aisle : ALPO
38. Shot blocker? : ANTI-VAXXER
40. Zealot : DIEHARD
42. Grenache, for one : VIN ROSE
43. BP rival : EXXONMOBIL
45. ___ Domini : ANNO
46. Coastal indentation : RIA
47. “The Times They Are a-Changin'” songwriter : DYLAN
48. Big name in vacuum cleaners : DYSON
49. Branches : ARMS
51. Hostility, in British slang : AGGRO
53. Collar attachment : LEASH
56. Cuneiform discovery site : AMARNA
61. Sister chain of Marshalls : TJ MAXX
64. Beer brand whose logo hints at the answers to 17-, 19-, 38-, 43- and 61-Across : DOS EQUIS
66. Dormmate, e.g. : ROOMIE
67. Artist Jean who pioneered in Dadaism : ARP
68. Relative of a tangelo : UGLI
69. Brewers’ fermenting agents : YEASTS
70. Like some humor or spells : DRY
71. On the briny : ASEA

Down
1. “Your mileage may ___” : VARY
2. Drink brand with a polar bear symbol : ICEE
3. Objectives : ENDS
4. Unites : WEDS
5. ___ squash : ACORN
6. Curse : POX
7. Prime theater location : BOX SEAT
8. Oodles of : MANY
9. Still : EVEN
10. U.S. president who becomes the president of future Earth on “Futurama” : NIXON
11. Burden : TAX
12. Sch. in Tulsa : ORU
13. Part of GPS: Abbr. : SYS
18. Decree : FIAT
22. Making it big : ARRIVING
24. Tourist transports in Venice : GONDOLAS
26. Fifth-century invaders of England : SAXONS
27. California city whose name is Spanish for “ash tree” : FRESNO
28. “It’s a date!” : WE’RE ON!
29. City 20 miles NW of 27-Down : MADERA
30. Quack medicine offering : ELIXIR
31. Culmination of a challenging H.S. course : AP EXAM
32. Manhattan neighborhood next to the East Village : NOHO
34. Black-hearted : EVIL
35. Degree of expertise in martial arts : DAN
38. West Point team : ARMY
39. Discovery of Wilhelm Roentgen, which earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 : X-RAY
41. “So what?” : AND?
44. Second-largest Arabic-speaking city after Cairo : BAGHDAD
48. Taj Mahal feature : DOME
50. Poetry competitions : SLAMS
52. Hoarse : RASPY
54. Way out : EXIT
55. Lines of a plane : AXES
57. Light blue : AQUA
58. Bearskins, maybe : RUGS
59. River along which 56-Across is located : NILE
60. It’s on one side of the Urals : ASIA
61. Take a shot : TRY
62. Average guy : JOE
63. Extinct relative of the kiwi : MOA
65. Hockey legend Bobby : ORR

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