0813-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 13 Aug 17, Sunday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Bit of a Bollywood soundtrack : RAGA
Raga isn’t really a type of music, but has been described as the “tonal framework” in which Indian classical music is composed. Ravi Shankar was perhaps the most famous raga virtuoso (to us Westerners). Western rock music with a heavy Indian influence might be called raga rock.

5. Hawaiian giveaway : LEI
“Lei” is the Hawaiian word for “garland, wreath”, although in more general terms a “lei” is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.

8. Home of van Gogh’s “The Starry Night,” informally : MOMA
The founding of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City was very much driven by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, the wife of John D. Rockefeller, son of the oil magnate. Working with two friends, Abby managed to get the museum opened in 1929, just nine days after the Wall Street Crash. The MoMA’s sculpture garden bears the name of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and has done so since 1949.

“The Starry Night” is a Van Gogh masterpiece depicting what the artist could see from the window of his room in a sanitarium near the village of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. I am somewhat ashamed to note that one reason I know this painting so well is that I put together a 2,000-piece jigsaw puzzle depicting “The Starry Night” not that long ago …

19. Greek warrior of myth : AJAX
Ajax was a figure in Greek mythology, and was the cousin of Achilles. Ajaz is an important figure in Homer’s “Iliad”. According to Homer, Ajax was chosen by lot to meet Hector in an epic duel that lasted a whole day. The duel ended in a draw.

20. Person from Calgary or Edmonton : ALBERTAN
Alberta (Alta.) is a big province, about the size of Texas. Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Princess Louise also donated her name to Lake Louise, the large glacial lake in the province, now within the bounds of Banff National Park.

26. Concern for wheat farmers : ERGOT
Ergot is a fungus, or actually a group of fungi, that cause disease in rye and related plants. If human eat ergot-contaminated grain, a condition called ergotism can result. Ergotism is the result of consumption of alkaloids produced by the fungi, alkaloids that can cause seizures and manic behavior. It has even been suggested that the hysteria exhibited by the Salem “witches” was perhaps caused by the ingestion of ergot-contaminated rye.

27. Nickname for an Oxford university : OLE MISS
“Ole Miss” is the nickname for the University of Mississippi. The name “Ole Miss” dates back to 1897, the first year a student yearbook was published. The graduating class held a competition to name the yearbook and “Ole Miss” emerged as the winner. The name stuck to the yearbook, and also as a nickname for the school itself. The University of Mississippi sports teams have been known as the Rebels since 1936. Prior to 1936, they were known as the Mississippi Flood.

29. Puzzle-loving group : MENSA
If you ever learned Latin, “mensa” was probably taught to you in lesson one as it’s the word commonly used as an example of a first declension noun. Mensa means “table”. The Mensa organization, for folks with high IQs, was set up in Oxford, England back in 1946. To become a member, you have to have an IQ that is in the top 2% of the population.

30. Sugar found in beer : MALTOSE
Maltose, also known as malt sugar, is a disaccharide made up of two glucose units.

34. Mouselike rodents : VOLES
Vole populations can really increase rapidly. Mama vole is pregnant for just three weeks before giving birth to litters of 5-10 baby voles. Then the young voles become sexually mature in just one month! If you have one pregnant vole in your yard, within a year you could have over a hundred of the little critters.

43. Agcy. that cares what airs : FCC
TV broadcasting is monitored by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC has been around since 1934, when it replaced the Federal Radio Commission.

46. 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”.

49. Burden for Jack and Jill : PAIL
The “Jack and Jill” nursery rhyme dates back at least to the 1700s:

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

50. Female org. since the 1850s : YWCA
The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) was founded in the mid-1800s about 50 years after the YMCA, although the two organizations have always been independent of each other. Having said that, some YWCA and YMCA organizations have amalgamated at the local level and often share facilities. The YWCA is quite the organization, and is the largest women’s group in the whole world.

52. Lee of Marvel Comics : STAN
Stan Lee did just about everything at Marvel Comics over the years, from writing to being president and chairman of the board. If you like superhero movies based on the characters from Marvel Comics, then you could spend a few hours trying to spot Stan Lee in those films as he has a penchant for making cameo appearances. Lee can be spotted in “X-Men” (2000), “Spider-Man” (2002), “Hulk” (2003), “Fantastic Four” (2005), “Iron Man” (2008) and many other films.

54. Coca-Cola brand : FANTA
The soft drink named “Fanta” has quite an interesting history. As WWII approached, the Coca-Cola plant in Germany had trouble obtaining the ingredients it needed to continue production of the cola beverage, so the plant manager decided to create a new drink from what was available. The new beverage was built around whey (left over from cheese production) and pomace (left over after juice has been extracted from fruit). The inventor asked his colleagues to use their imagination (“Fantasie” in German) and come up with a name for the drink, so they piped up “Fanta!”

55. ___ duck (Chinese entree) : PEKING
Peking duck is a traditional dish from Beijing. The duck that is served is mainly the skin, skin that has been made very crispy by roasting. In order to get the skin easily away from the meat, after the duck is slaughtered, air is pumped under the skin to separate it from the underlying fat. Sounds very appetizing …

57. “Carmina Burana” composer Carl : ORFF
“Carmina Burana” is a cantata by Carl Orff based on a collection of medieval poems that go by the same name. The name translates as “Songs from Beuern”. The best known movement of the cantata by far is the dramatic “O Fortuna” used at the opening and closing of the piece. One study placed “O Fortuna” as the most often played piece of classical music in the UK over the past 75 years, largely due to its use in television commercials. Famously, the piece appeared in the US in ads for Gatorade and Old Spice aftershave.

59. Grant-making org. : NEA
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an agency funded by the federal government that offers support and financing for artistic projects. The NEA was created by an Act of Congress in 1965. Between 1965 and 2008, the NEA awarded over $4 billion to the arts, with Congress authorizing around $170 million annually through the eighties and much of the nineties. That funding was cut to less than $100 million in the late nineties due to pressure from conservatives concerned about the use of funds, but it is now back over the $150 million mark. I wonder how long that will last though …

65. Feudal vassal : LIEGE
A liege was a feudal lord, one to whom service or allegiance was owed under feudal law. “Liege” was also the term used for one who owed allegiance or service to a lord. Apparently the term is influenced by the Latin verb “ligare” meaning “to tie, bind”. So, I guess both lord and servant were “bound” to each other.

71. Word repeated before “everywhere” : WATER
The line “water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink” is from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”.

72. Online “Very funny!” : LMAO
Laughing my a** off (LMAO)

76. Comic Aziz of “Master of None” : ANSARI
Aziz Ansari is an actor and comedian from Columbia, South Carolina who is best known for playing Tom Haverford on the sitcom “Parks and Recreation”. Ansari also stars in the Netflix comedy-drama series “Master of None”.

85. Greenish-blue hues : CYANS
“Cyan” is short for “cyan blue”. The term comes from the Greek word “kyanos” meaning “dark blue, the color of lapis lazuli”.

87. Musical based on Fellini’s “8 1/2” : NINE
Federico Fellini was a film director and scriptwriter from Rimini in Italy. Fellini won more Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film than anyone else.

90. Escape maker : FORD
The Ford Escape is an SUV that was developed jointly with Mazda and introduced in the 2001 model year. The Mazda version of the same vehicle is known as the Tribute.

94. Blue, on some maps: Abbr. : DEM
On political maps, red states are usually Republican and blue states usually Democrat. The designation of red and blue states is a very recent concept, only introduced in the 2000 presidential election by TV journalist, the late Tim Russert. In retrospect, the choice of colors is surprising, as in other democracies around the world red is usually used to describe left-leaning socialist parties (the reds under the bed!), and blue is used for conservative right-wing parties. In election cycles, swing/battleground states are often depicted in purple.

95. Onetime White House nickname : ABE
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the US. There are several stories told about how he earned the nickname “Honest Abe”. One story dates back to early in his career as a lawyer. Lincoln accidentally overcharged a client and then walked miles in order to right the wrong as soon as possible.

100. Four-string instrument : UKULELE
The ukulele (uke) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

102. Kind of jar : MASON
Mason jars were invented in 1858 in Philadelphia, by a tinsmith named John Landis Mason.

105. Crisp fabric : TAFFETA
Taffeta is a plain woven fabric with a crisp feel that is made from silk or one of several manmade materials. The name “taffeta” ultimately comes from the Persian “taftah” meaning “silk or linen cloth”.

109. Tequila source : AGAVE
Tequila is a spirit made from the blue agave. The drink takes its name from the city of Tequila, located about 40 miles northwest of Guadalajara.

121. Architect Saarinen : EERO
Eliel Saarinen was a Finnish architect who designed entire city districts in Helsinki. He immigrated to the United States where he became famous for his art nouveau designs. He was the father of Eero Saarinen, who was to become even more renowned in America for his designs, including the Dulles International Airport terminal, and the TWA building at JFK.

122. Swiss and others : CHEESES
“Swiss cheese” is a relatively generic term for a type of cheese produced in various countries and not necessarily in Switzerland. What they all have in common though, is a resemblance to the original Swiss Emmental cheese.

125. Prohibitionists : DRYS
The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution was a great victory for the temperance movement (the “dry” movement), and in 1919 ushered in the Prohibition era. Highly unpopular (with the “wet” movement), Prohibition was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment.

Down
6. QB Manning : ELI
Eli Manning plays as quarterback for the New York Giants. Eli’s brother Peyton Manning retired from football as the quarterback for the Denver Broncos in 2015. Eli and Peyton’s father is Archie Manning, who was also a successful NFL quarterback. Eli, Peyton and Archie co-authored a book for children titles “Family Huddle” in 2009. It describes the Mannings playing football together as young boys.

8. Advertising icon who wears a single earring : MR CLEAN
“Mr. Clean” is a brand of household cleaner from Procter & Gamble. “Mr. Clean” is a sold as Maestro Limpio in Mexico, Monsieur Propre in France, and as Monsieur Net in French Canada.

12. Output of N.W.A or DMX : RAP SONGS
NWA was a hip hop group from Compton, California. The original five group members included rappers who have made a name for themselves as solo acts, including: Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. The story of NWA is told in a 2015 film, also called “Straight Outta Compton”. I hear that the movie was well received, although hip hop is not my cup of tea …

“DMX” and “Dark Man x” are stage names used by rap artist Earl Simmons. DMX’s biggest hit is “Party Up (Up in Here) released in 1999 (and even I know that song!). DMX seems to get in trouble with the law a lot, an awful lot …

16. Baseball’s Hank : AARON
The great Hank Aaron (“Hammerin’ Hank” or “the Hammer”) has many claims to fame. One notable fact is that he is the last major league baseball player to have also played in the Negro League.

17. Physicist Bohr : NIELS
Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who won his 1922 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics and atomic structure. Later in his life, Bohr was part of the team working on the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bomb. Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein had a series of public debates and disputes in the twenties and thirties. Although the two respected each other very highly, they held very different views on quantum theory, different views on the laws of physics at the atomic level. The passage of time has shown that Bohr won out in those debates.

24. Lesley of “60 Minutes” : STAHL
Lesley Stahl has worked on “60 Minutes” since 1991. She is married to author “Aaron Latham”. As a journalist, it was Latham who wrote the article that inspired the movie “Urban Cowboy”.

31. Lane in Metropolis : LOIS
Lois Lane has been the love interest of Superman/Clark Kent since the comic series was first published in 1938. Lois and Clark both work for the big newspaper in the city of Metropolis called “The Daily Planet”. The couple finally got hitched in the comics (and on television’s “Lois and Clark”) in 1996. But never mind all that … one has to wonder how challenging the crossword is in “The Daily Planet” …

33. Schindler of “Schindler’s List” : OSKAR
Oskar Schindler is the protagonist in the Steven Spielberg movie “Schindler’s List”. Schindler was a real person who survived WWII. During the Holocaust, Schindler managed to save almost 1,200 Jews from perishing by employing them in his factories. After the war, Schindler and his wife were left penniless having used his assets to protect and feed his workers. For years the couple survived on the charity of Jewish groups. Schindler tried to make a go of it in business again but never had any real success. He died a pauper in 1974 in Hildesheim, not far from Hanover. His last wish was to be buried in Jerusalem. Schindler was the only former member of the Nazi Party to be buried on Mount Zion.

38. Talkative birds : MACAWS
Macaws are beautifully colored birds of native to Central and South America, and are actually a type of parrot. Most species of macaw are now endangered, with several having become extinct in recent decades. The main threats are deforestation and illegal trapping and trafficking of exotic birds.

51. Onetime honor for cable TV shows : ACE AWARD
The ACE Awards were instituted in 1978, with the acronym standing for “Award for Cable Excellence”. The name of the award was later changed to the Cable ACE Award, and honored excellence in cable television programming. The award was abandoned after the 1997 ceremony as recognition of cable programming at the Emmys made a separate cable TV award redundant.

54. Mozart title character : FIGARO
Figaro is the title character in at least two operas: “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini, and “The Marriage of Figaro” by Mozart. The two storylines are based on plays by Pierre Beaumarchais, with one basically being a sequel to the other.

56. Part of P.E.I. : EDWARD
Prince Edward Island (PEI) is a maritime Canadian province. The island at the center of the province was named for Prince Edward, the fourth son of King George III and the father of Queen Victoria.

62. South American monkey : TITI
Titis are monkeys found in much of South America. Titis have tails that are a little bit longer than the length of their heads and bodies.

64. Old war zone, briefly : NAM
By some definitions, the official involvement of Americans in the Vietnam War started in 1955. At that time, President Eisenhower deployed a Military Assistance Advisory Group to assist in the training of the South Vietnamese Army. American involvement in the conflict officially ended in 1973 with the signing of an agreement that came out of the Paris Peace Accords.

74. Director of 1957’s “12 Angry Men” : LUMET
As a movie director, Sidney Lumet had a great string of celebrated films to his name including “12 Angry Men”, “Dog Day Afternoon”, “Network” and “The Verdict”. Although nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for each of these films, he never won an individual Oscar. However, the Academy gave Lumet the recognition he deserved in 2004 by presenting him with an Honorary Award.

76. Name on some boxes of film : AGFA
Agfa was founded in Germany in 1867 as a company focused on the manufacture of dyes. The full name of the enterprise was Aktiengesellschaft für Anilinfabrikation, shortened to Agfa, and translating as “Corporation for Aniline (a dye) Production”. Agfa merged with the Belgian company Gevaert in 1894, getting them into the photographic business. Agfa 35mm film hasn’t been produced for a few years now, but there is still inventory out there and purists are buying it when they can.

86. Dweller in a virtual “City” : SIM
SimCity is a very clever computer game. Players build and grow cities and societies by creating the conditions necessary for people (the Sims) to move in and thrive. “SimCity” was launched in 1989, and to this day it is consistently ranked as one of the greatest computer games of all time.

96. Furs from rabbits : CONIES
Cony (or “coney”) is an old English word for rabbit or rabbit fur, and Coney Island in New York takes its name from the same root. The Dutch used the name “Conyne Eylandt” (Rabbit Island) after the large population of rabbits that was hunted there.

101. Stand-up comic Williams : KATT
Katt Williams is a comedian and rapper from Cincinnati, Ohio. Williams also works as an actor and is known for playing Money Mike in the 2002 comedy film “Friday After Next”.

103. Literary collection: Abbr. : ANTH
Strictly speaking, an “anthology” is a collection of poetic works, although the meaning has broadened over time to cover any literary collection, or even a collection of ideas, comments, complaints etc. The term derives from the Greek “anthologia”, a word for a collection of short poems by several authors. The literal meaning is “flower collection” from “anthos” and “logia”, so an anthology is a book containing “flowers” of verse.

104. Vaccine holder : SYRINGE
A vaccine is a modified virus that causes a particular disease, which is administered to an individual to stimulate the immune system into developing immunity. British physician Edward Jenner came up with the first vaccine, injecting people with the cowpox virus in order to prevent smallpox. The term “vaccination” comes from the Latin “vaccinus” meaning “from cows”, with “vacca” translating as “cow”.

108. Stuntman Knievel : EVEL
Daredevil Evel Knievel contracted hepatitis C from the many blood transfusions that he needed after injuries incurred during stunts. He had to have a liver transplant as a result, but his health declined after that. Knievel eventually passed away in 2007.

114. Fannie or Ginnie follower : MAE
The Federal National Mortgage Association is commonly called Fannie Mae, a play on the initialism FNMA. Fannie Mae was founded in during the Great Depression as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Ginnie Mae is the familiar nickname for the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA), a government-owned corporation created in 1968 with the objective of promoting home ownership. The “Ginnie Mae” nickname is derived from the GNMA abbreviation.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Bit of a Bollywood soundtrack : RAGA
5. Hawaiian giveaway : LEI
8. Home of van Gogh’s “The Starry Night,” informally : MOMA
12. Walgreens competitor : RITE AID
19. Greek warrior of myth : AJAX
20. Person from Calgary or Edmonton : ALBERTAN
22. Source of material for a baseball bat : ASH TREE
23. Magic trick performed at 78-Down : VANISHING COIN
25. Company accountant’s responsibility : PAYROLL
26. Concern for wheat farmers : ERGOT
27. Nickname for an Oxford university : OLE MISS
29. Puzzle-loving group : MENSA
30. Sugar found in beer : MALTOSE
34. Mouselike rodents : VOLES
36. Sometimes-stinky pair : GYM SHOES
39. Adds to : AUGMENTS
43. Agcy. that cares what airs : FCC
46. Mauna ___ : LOA
47. Magic trick performed at 119-Across and 104-Down : LINKING RINGS
49. Burden for Jack and Jill : PAIL
50. Female org. since the 1850s : YWCA
52. Lee of Marvel Comics : STAN
53. Pals around (with) : HANGS
54. Coca-Cola brand : FANTA
55. ___ duck (Chinese entree) : PEKING
57. “Carmina Burana” composer Carl : ORFF
59. Grant-making org. : NEA
60. Like most doors : HINGED
61. Followed closely, as a set of rules : HEWED TO
63. Zest source : RIND
65. Feudal vassal : LIEGE
67. Magic trick performed at 123- and 124-Across : SAWING A LADY IN HALF
71. Word repeated before “everywhere” : WATER
72. Online “Very funny!” : LMAO
73. Basic gymnastics flips : AERIALS
76. Comic Aziz of “Master of None” : ANSARI
79. “Is that true about me?” : AM I?
81. Movies with big budgets and no audience : DUDS
83. At the proper moment : ON CUE
84. Simple percussion instrument : GOURD
85. Greenish-blue hues : CYANS
87. Musical based on Fellini’s “8 1/2” : NINE
89. Ready to take part : GAME
90. Escape maker : FORD
91. Magic trick performed at 55-Across : CHANGING CARD
94. Blue, on some maps: Abbr. : DEM
95. Onetime White House nickname : ABE
96. Apt anagram of IS A CHARM : CHARISMA
97. Eight-line poems : TRIOLETS
99. Hullabaloo : NOISE
100. Four-string instrument : UKULELE
102. Kind of jar : MASON
105. Crisp fabric : TAFFETA
109. Tequila source : AGAVE
113. “Whenever you want” : ANYTIME
115. Magic trick performed at 15-, 16- and 17-Down : LEVITATING MAN
119. Skinny sort : STRING BEAN
120. Hydrogen has one : ELECTRON
121. Architect Saarinen : EERO
122. Swiss and others : CHEESES
123. First name in jazz : ELLA
124. Bad: Prefix : DYS-
125. Prohibitionists : DRYS

Down
1. Go gaga : RAVE
2. Not quite closed : AJAR
3. Bunch of friends : GANG
4. Truisms : AXIOMS
5. ___-di-dah : LAH
6. QB Manning : ELI
7. Arabic for “son of” : IBN
8. Advertising icon who wears a single earring : MR CLEAN
9. Missouri River native : OTOE
10. Hurt badly : MAIM
11. Latin years : ANNI
12. Output of N.W.A or DMX : RAP SONGS
13. “This ___ test” : IS A
14. Herbs related to mints : THYMES
15. English lengths : METRES
16. Baseball’s Hank : AARON
17. Physicist Bohr : NIELS
18. Crème ___ crème : DE LA
21. They can be inflated or shattered : EGOS
24. Lesley of “60 Minutes” : STAHL
28. Manipulative type : SVENGALI
31. Lane in Metropolis : LOIS
32. 12:50 : TEN-TO-ONE
33. Schindler of “Schindler’s List” : OSKAR
35. Officers below capts. : LTS
36. Relief carving : GLYPH
37. Shout of pain : YOWEE!
38. Talkative birds : MACAWS
40. “Yuk!” : UGH!
41. Relative of pop? : GRANDDAD
42. Place from which to withdraw deposits : MINE
43. Long tooth : FANG
44. Give as an example : CITE
45. Wearing, with “in” : CLAD
48. Prefix with structure : INFRA-
49. Décor of many dens : PANELING
51. Onetime honor for cable TV shows : ACE AWARD
54. Mozart title character : FIGARO
56. Part of P.E.I. : EDWARD
58. Some dental work : FILLINGS
60. Titter : HE-HE
62. South American monkey : TITI
64. Old war zone, briefly : NAM
66. Tangled up : IN A SNARL
68. Ill-defined situation : GRAY AREA
69. Offspring : YOUNG
70. Front : FACADE
74. Director of 1957’s “12 Angry Men” : LUMET
75. Looks like : SEEMS
76. Name on some boxes of film : AGFA
77. Neophyte, informally : NOOB
78. Provide part of a coverage policy for : CO-INSURE
80. ___-pedi : MANI
82. “Mirabile ___!” (“Wonderful to state!”) : DICTU
85. Reproves : CHASTENS
86. Dweller in a virtual “City” : SIM
88. Great Lakes city : ERIE
91. Greek X : CHI
92. J.Crew competitor : NAUTICA
93. New York archbishop Timothy : DOLAN
96. Furs from rabbits : CONIES
98. Got a move on, with “it” : LEGGED
99. “I would ___ surprised” : NOT BE
101. Stand-up comic Williams : KATT
102. Like the Spanish nouns “gato” (cat) and “perro” (dog): Abbr. : MASC
103. Literary collection: Abbr. : ANTH
104. Vaccine holder : SYRINGE
106. Run away : FLEE
107. Tumbled : FELL
108. Stuntman Knievel : EVEL
110. The New World: Abbr. : AMER
111. Be inconsistent : VARY
112. Book of Mormon book : ENOS
114. Fannie or Ginnie follower : MAE
116. Suffix with dull : -ARD
117. Small dog : TOY
118. Entrances : INS

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