0801-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 1 Aug 17, Tuesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Zin alternative : CAB
The Cabernet Sauvignon grape has been around since the 17th century, and is the result of a chance crossing in southwestern France of the Cabernet franc and Sauvignon blanc grapes.

Zinfandel is one of my favorite red wine varietals. It amazes me that the rich and heavy red Zinfandel comes from the same grape as does the sweet White Zinfandel.

4. With 6-Down, “Dancing Queen” musical : MAMMA …
(6D. See 4-Across : … MIA!)
The hit musical “Mamma Mia!” was written to showcase the songs of ABBA. I’m a big fan of ABBA’s music, so I’ve seen this show a couple of times and just love it. “Mamma Mia!” is such a big hit on the stage that on any given day there are at least seven performances going on somewhere in the world. There is a really interesting film version of the show that was released in 2008. I think the female lead Meryl Streep is wonderful in the movie, but the male leads … not so much! By the way, one can tell the difference between “Mamma Mia” the ABBA song and “Mamma Mia!” the musical, by noting the difference in the punctuation in the titles.

9. One of the Three Musketeers : ATHOS
Alexandre Dumas’ “Three Musketeers” are Athos, Porthos and Aramis, although the hero of the novel is the trio’s young protégé D’Artagnan. A musketeer was an infantry soldier who was equipped with a musket. Funnily enough, the three “musketeers” really don’t use their muskets, and are better known for prowess with their swords.

14. Baton Rouge sch. : LSU
LSU’s full name is Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, and is located in Baton Rouge. LSU was founded in 1860 as a military academy, with then-Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman as superintendent.

Baton Rouge is the capital city of the state of Louisiana. The name “Baton Rouge” is French for “red stick or staff”. The exact reason why such a name was given to the city isn’t really clear.

15. “See you!” : ADIOS!
The term “adios” is Spanish for “goodbye”. In the Spanish language, “adios” comes from the phrase “a dios vos acomiendo” meaning “I commend you to God”.

19. Camping craft : CANOE
The boat called a canoe takes its name from the Carib word “kenu” meaning “dugout”. It was Christopher Columbus who brought “kenu” into Spanish as “canoa”, which evolved into our English “canoe”.

21. Duracell designation : AAA
Duracell is a brand of batteries made today by Procter & Gamble. “Duracell” is a portmanteau of “durable” and “cell”.

23. Cincinnati sitcom station : WKRP
The sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” was produced by MTM, the production company established by Mary Tyler Moore and her husband for the “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. “WKRP” was a successful enough show when it originally aired, but then became a blockbuster in syndication. It became MTM’s most-watched program, even outstripping the original “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”.

25. “Shocking!,” to an Ohio tourist? : HOLY TOLEDO!
The origin of the term “Holy Toledo!” is much debated. My favorite story is that it comes from the days of Vaudeville. Back then the week before Easter, known as Holy Week, was the worst week at the box office. Old Vaudeville entertainers used to quip that any week in Toledo was Holy Week, that ticket sales were always bad there. They referred to the city as “Holy Toledo”.

Toledo, Ohio lies in the northwest of the state, at the western end of Lake Erie. Toledo was founded as a result of the prosperity that hit the area when the Miami and Erie Canal was constructed in the 19th century connecting Cincinnati to the Great Lakes. Toledo is known as the Glass City as several glass companies originated there, including Owens Corning and Pilkington North America. There is a large exhibition of glass art at the Toledo Museum of Art.

28. Gen ___ : XER
The term Generation X originated in the UK where it was the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book detailed the results of a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By the latest accepted definition, Gen-Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.

30. Pommes frites seasoning : SEL
In French, one might put “sel” (salt) on “pommes frites” (French fries).

31. Stimpy’s TV pal : REN
“The Ren & Stimpy Show” is an animated television show that ran on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1996. The title characters are Marland “Ren” Höek, a scrawny Chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a rotund Manx cat. Not my cup of tea …

34. “Nothing runs like a ___” (ad slogan) : DEERE
John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”. The Deere company that John founded uses the slogan “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”, and has a leaping deer as its logo.

42. Teachers’ org. : NEA
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the country, and mainly represents public school teachers.

43. Sloth, for one : SIN
“Sloth”, meaning “indolence, sluggishness”, comes from the Middle English word “slowe”, the same root for our contemporary word “slow”. The animal, the sloth, is so named as it exhibits slow-moving behavior.

47. English head : LOO
It has been suggested that the British term “loo” comes from Waterloo (water-closet … water-loo), but no one seems to know for sure. Another suggestion is that the term comes from the card game of “lanterloo”, in which the pot was called the loo!

In old sailing ships the toilet area for the regular sailors was located in the forward part (the head) of the ship, hence the term “head” that has been used since then for any toilet on board a boat.

50. “Shocking!,” to a teetotaler? : WELL I NEVER!
Teetotalism is the practice of abstaining from alcohol. The teetotalism movement started in England in the 1800s.

53. Something to watch on the telly, with “the” : BEEB
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is also known as “the Beeb”, a name given to the network by the great Peter Sellers on the classic British radio comedy called “The Goon Show”. The BBC was founded in 1922, and was the world’s first national broadcasting organization.

“Telly” is a term commonly used in the UK that is short for “television”.

55. White wine aperitif : KIR
Kir is a French cocktail made by adding a teaspoon or so of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) to a glass, and then topping it off with white wine. The drink is named after Felix Kir, the Mayor of Dijon in Burgundy, who used to offer the drink to his guests. My wife is particularly fond of a variant called a Kir Royale, in which the white wine is replaced with champagne.

59. “Shocking!,” to a Thanksgiving guest? : GOOD GRAVY!
Thanksgiving Day was observed on different dates in different states for many years, until Abraham Lincoln fixed the date for the whole country in 1863. Lincoln’s presidential proclamation set that date as the last Thursday in November. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, arguing that the earlier date would give the economy a much-needed boost.

62. Jurassic Park inhabitants, for short : DINOS
“Jurassic Park” is a 1990 novel by Michael Crichton that was adapted into a hugely successful movie by Steven Spielberg in 1993. One of the main premises of the novel is that dinosaur DNA could be harvested from mosquitoes trapped in amber (fossilized tree resin), the DNA coming from the dinosaur blood consumed by the mosquitoes. The dinosaur DNA is then sequenced and used to create clones of the original beasts. A clever idea, but apparently not very practical from what I’ve read …

63. Mandel of “America’s Got Talent” : HOWIE
Howie Mandel is a Canadian comic. He was a regular on TV a few years ago as host of “Deal or No Deal”, and more recently as a judge on “America’s Got Talent”. I remember Mandel from “St. Elsewhere” in the eighties, which was the first American TV show that I watched regularly when I moved to the US …

NBC’s show “America’s Got Talent” is part of a global franchise based in the UK. The original show is called “Britain’s Got Talent”, and the whole franchise is owned by Simon Cowell. The first host of “America’s Got Talent” was Regis Philbin (2006), followed by Jerry Springer (2007-2008). Nick Cannon has been the host since 2009.

64. Uno + due : TRE
In Italian, “uno e due” (one and two) is “tre” (three).

65. One may be rolling or skipped : STONE
Publilius Syrus was a writer of adages and proverbs in Ancient Roman times. He was a freed slave, originally a Syrian, who was freed by his master in Italy. Publilius wrote the adage “People who are always moving, with no roots in one place, avoid responsibilities and cares”. We are more familiar with the contemporary version “A rolling stone gathers no moss”.

67. Multivolume ref. : OED
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

Down
1. Bleach brand : CLOROX
Clorox bleach was first produced by a business called the Electro-Alkaline Company in 1913, just a few miles from where I live here on the east side of San Francisco Bay. I use a generic version of Clorox as the source of chlorine for my swimming pool. It’s the same chemical solution as that sold for pools, just half as concentrated and a lot cheaper!

2. Enjoying Fleet Week, say : ASHORE
The tradition of Fleet Week dates back to 1935 when a huge contingent of 114 warships and 400 military planes visited San Diego for the California Pacific International Exposition. Over 50,000 members of the armed forces were given shore leave to enjoy the exposition, and thousands of fairgoers and local residents were able to tour many of the docked vessels.

3. Part of a pinball machine : BUMPER
Our modern game of pinball evolved from an earlier table game called bagatelle which used balls, pins and holes (and I remember playing bagatelle as boy in a pub in Ireland). The first “pinball” machine was made by a British inventor who settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. He modified the game of bagatelle, adding a coiled spring and a plunger to introduce balls at the end of the table, a device that is still in use today. From there, manufacturers developed coin-operated versions of pinball, which became popular during the depression as they provided a little entertainment for a few pennies. One distributor of the coin-operated pinball machines started manufacturing them himself as he couldn’t source new games fast enough. He called his pinball game Ballyhoo, and eventually named his company Bally, a brand name well known in the gambling industry to this day.

5. Big letters in home security : ADT
ADT is a home and small-business security company based in Boca Raton, Florida. The company was founded back in 1874 by Edward Calahan. Calahan had invented the stock ticker several years earlier, and ran the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company. Calahan was awoken one morning by the sound of a burglar in his house, and so he decided to develop a telegraph-based security alarm system. The success of the system led to the founding of American District Telegraph, later known as ADT.

7. “Slow and steady wins the race,” e.g. : MORAL
The adage “Slow and steady wins the race” comes from Aesop’s fable “The Tortoise and the Hare”. “The Tortoise and the Hare” is perhaps the most famous fable attributed to Aesop. The cocky hare takes a nap during a race against the tortoise, and the tortoise sneaks past the finish line for the win while his speedier friend is sleeping.

9. “The Goldbergs” network : ABC
“The Goldbergs” is a very entertaining sitcom that started airing in 2013. The show was created by Adam F. Goldberg and is based on Goldberg’s own childhood and family. My favorite part of the show comes at the end of each episode, when a clip from Goldberg’s real home movies is shown, which clip relates back to that episode’s storyline.

10. Net that netted Dory in “Finding Nemo” : TRAWL
“Finding Nemo” is a 2003 animated blockbuster from Pixar. The film was the winner of the Oscar that year for Best Animated Feature. Believe it or not, “Finding Nemo” is the best-selling DVD of all time and, until 2010’s “Toy Story 3”, it was the highest-grossing, G-rated movie at the box office.

26. Onetime Ron Howard role : OPIE
Opie Taylor is the character played by Ron Howard on “The Andy Griffith Show”. Opie lives with widowed father Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) and his great-aunt Beatrice “Aunt Bee” Taylor (played by Frances Bavier). Ron Howard first played the role in 1960 in the pilot show, when he was just 5 years old. Howard sure has come a long way since playing Opie Taylor. He has directed some fabulous movies including favorites of mine like “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind” and “The Da Vinci Code”.

29. Boehner’s predecessor as House leader : PELOSI
Nancy Pelosi is a former Speaker of the House, and the 60th person to hold that position. Ms. Pelosi represents a district not far from here, which covers most of San Francisco. She was the first Californian, the first Italian-American and the first woman to be Speaker of the House. As Speaker, she was also second in line, after the Vice President, to take over if President Obama could not finish his term. That made Nancy Pelosi the highest-ranking female politician in US history.

John Boehner elected Leader of the House of Representatives in 2011, and was the House Minority Leader from 2007 to 2011. Boehner is from Reading, Ohio and grew up in modest circumstances in a two-bedroom house with eleven siblings. After Boehner graduated from university in 1977, he joined a small packaging and plastics business. By the time he resigned to serve in Congress, Boehner had risen to become president of the company.

32. “Strange Magic” band, for short : ELO
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is a symphonic rock group from the north of England.

36. Lingua di Luigi : ITALIANO
In Italian, “Italiano” (Italian) is a “lingua” (language).

37. Quiet place to pray : APSE
The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally, apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

47. Smooth, in music : LEGATO
Staccato is a musical direction signifying that notes should be played in a disconnected form. The opposite of staccato would be legato, indicating long and continuous notes played very smoothly.

61. 24 horas : DIA
In Spanish, there are 24 “horas” (hours) in a “día” (day).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Zin alternative : CAB
4. With 6-Down, “Dancing Queen” musical : MAMMA …
9. One of the Three Musketeers : ATHOS
14. Baton Rouge sch. : LSU
15. “See you!” : ADIOS!
16. Main impact : BRUNT
17. “Shocking!,” to an astronomer? : OH MY STARS!
19. Camping craft : CANOE
20. Secures, as an area, with “off” : ROPES
21. Duracell designation : AAA
23. Cincinnati sitcom station : WKRP
24. Mine finds : ORES
25. “Shocking!,” to an Ohio tourist? : HOLY TOLEDO!
28. Gen ___ : XER
29. Zest : PEP
30. Pommes frites seasoning : SEL
31. Stimpy’s TV pal : REN
32. Strange : EERIE
34. “Nothing runs like a ___” (ad slogan) : DEERE
36. “Shocking!,” to a seamstress? : I’LL BE DARNED!
39. Childish comeback : IS TOO!
41. Primitive fishing tool : SPEAR
42. Teachers’ org. : NEA
43. Sloth, for one : SIN
46. What some shoulders and pants do : SAG
47. English head : LOO
50. “Shocking!,” to a teetotaler? : WELL I NEVER!
53. Something to watch on the telly, with “the” : BEEB
54. End in ___ : A TIE
55. White wine aperitif : KIR
56. Make a case (for) : ARGUE
57. Wanders : ROAMS
59. “Shocking!,” to a Thanksgiving guest? : GOOD GRAVY!
62. Jurassic Park inhabitants, for short : DINOS
63. Mandel of “America’s Got Talent” : HOWIE
64. Uno + due : TRE
65. One may be rolling or skipped : STONE
66. Bit of campaign nastiness : SMEAR
67. Multivolume ref. : OED

Down
1. Bleach brand : CLOROX
2. Enjoying Fleet Week, say : ASHORE
3. Part of a pinball machine : BUMPER
4. Atomic ___ : MASS
5. Big letters in home security : ADT
6. See 4-Across : … MIA!
7. “Slow and steady wins the race,” e.g. : MORAL
8. Some lab tests : ASSAYS
9. “The Goldbergs” network : ABC
10. Net that netted Dory in “Finding Nemo” : TRAWL
11. Hid out, with “down” : HUNKERED
12. Yet to be delivered : ON ORDER
13. Start of a manual : STEP ONE
18. “By all means” : YES
22. Got rid of the munchies : ATE
25. Marijuana, slangily : HERB
26. Onetime Ron Howard role : OPIE
27. Racetrack has-been : OLD NAG
29. Boehner’s predecessor as House leader : PELOSI
32. “Strange Magic” band, for short : ELO
33. Mag heads : EDS
35. At any time, to poets : E’ER
36. Lingua di Luigi : ITALIANO
37. Quiet place to pray : APSE
38. Tail end : REAR
39. To the center : INWARDS
40. Make sure something gets done : SEE TO IT
44. It’s usually not erasable : INK
45. Sounds from a stable : NEIGHS
47. Smooth, in music : LEGATO
48. Entirety of a composer’s works : OEUVRE
49. Followed instructions : OBEYED
51. Car that’s hardly a peach : LEMON
52. Racetrack sound : VROOM!
53. “I can’t f-f-feel my f-f-feet!” : BRR!
56. Ending with teen : -AGER
58. Chicago-to-Indianapolis dir. : SSE
60. Be in the red : OWE
61. 24 horas : DIA

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