0119-18 NY Times Crossword Answers 19 Jan 2018, Friday

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Constructed by: David J. Kahn
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: H in the Middle

There is a note with today’s puzzle:

The completed puzzle conceals the name of a famous composer, along with something that might help you listen to him. Who and what are they?

Well, that big letter H in the middle of the grid is the hint. The composer is BEETHOVEN (BEET-H-OVEN), which is written across the middle of the grid. The listening aids are EARPHONES (EARP-H-ONES), which runs down the middle of the grid. Clever!

Bill’s time: 25m 40s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

16. Hardin-Simmons University setting : ABILENE

Hardin-Simmons University is a private school that was established in 1891 in Abilene, Texas as the Abilene Baptist College. The name changed in 1892 to Simmons College and to Hardin-Simmons University in 1934, in recognition of major benefactors.

17. N.L. East city : ATLANTA

The Atlanta Braves are the only team to have won baseball’s World Series in three different home cities. They won as the Boston Braves in 1914, the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and the Atlanta Braves in 1995.

19. Neo-___ : NOIR

A neo-noir film is a contemporary film that incorporates elements of the film noir style of the forties and fifties.

20. Touching things in competitions : EPEES

The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.

29. Ed basics : RRR

The “three Rs” (RRR) are reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic.

37. Thrill-seeker’s appurtenance : GOPRO

GoPro is a company that makes high-definition video cameras that have a rugged design. Famously, GoPro cameras are used in extreme conditions. For example, they are often mounted on moving vehicles or used by people playing sports. Recently, two astronauts on the International Space Station inserted a GoPro camera inside a floating ball of water, and then showed the view from inside the ball of water. Amazing footage …

An appurtenance is an accessory, perhaps a piece of equipment for a specific task. It might also be an appendage, a suffix to a word, for example.

41. Girl in a gown : DEB

“Deb” is short for “debutante”, which translates from French as “female beginner”.

43. Stuff of life : RNA

Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by what is called transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA.

47. ___ Lan (giant panda born at the 17-Across zoo) : MEI

The giant panda is a bear, and so has the digestive system of a carnivore. However, the panda lives exclusively on bamboo, even though its gut is relatively poorly adapted to extract nutrients from plants per se. The panda relies on microbes in its gut to digest cellulose, and consumes 20-30 pounds of bamboo each day to gain enough nourishment.

51. The Eagle, e.g. : LEM

We always seem to remember the phrase “The Eagle has landed”, historic words spoken by Neil Armstrong when he put down Apollo 11’s Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) on the surface of the moon. Looking back I have to say that the words preceding “The Eagle has landed” seem to have even more impact. During the descent to the moon’s surface Armstrong used the call sign “Eagle”, indicating that he was communicating from the LEM. After he killed the engines on touching down, Armstrong’s first words home to Earth were “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” That switch of call sign from “Eagle” to “Tranquility Base” always sends shivers down my spine …

52. That right introduction? : ISN’T

That isn’t right …

54. Third-largest city of Switzerland : BASEL

The city of Basel in Switzerland lies right where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, and so has suburbs that lie in both France and Germany.

55. Car once advertised with the slogan “The relentless pursuit of common sense” : SAAB

“SAAB” stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. Although we usually think of SAAB as an auto manufacturer, it is mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. A Chinese consortium purchased the assets of SAAB Automotive in 2012, and so SAAB vehicles are in production again. The new vehicles are using the SAAB name, but cannot use the SAAB griffin logo, the rights to which have been retained by the mother company.

56. Bubkes : NOT A LOT

“Bupkis” (also “bubkes”) is a word that means “absolutely nothing, nothing of value”, and is of Yiddish origin.

58. Cabinet part : DEFENSE

The largest government department in the cabinet is the Department of Defense (DOD), with a permanent staff of over 600,000. The smallest department, by far, is the Department of Education, with a mere four or five thousand employees.

60. Last new Beatles track before their split in 1970 : I ME MINE

“I Me Mine” is one of the relatively few Beatles songs to have been written by George Harrison (and indeed performed by him). Harrison chose the same title for his autobiography, which was published in 1980 just a few weeks before John Lennon was assassinated in New York City.

62. Wraps around the shoulders : SERAPES

“Serape” is the English pronunciation and spelling of the Spanish word “zarape”. A zarape is like a Mexican poncho, a soft woolen blanket with a hole in the middle for the head. Most serapes have colorful designs that use traditional Mayan motifs.

63. Big name in shoe stores : PAYLESS

Payless ShoeSource is discount shoe store that was founded in 1956 in Topeka, Kansas.

Down

3. Home office convenience : ALL-IN-ONE PRINTER

An all-in-one printer is a multifunctional computer peripheral that typically incorporates a photocopier, printer and scanner.

6. Flower whose name derives from the shape of its cluster : ASTER

Apparently, most aster species and cultivars bloom relatively late in the year, usually in the fall. The name “aster” comes into English via Latin from the Greek word “astéri” meaning “star”, a reference to the arrangement of the petals of the flower.

11. Stout cousins? : ALES

The term “stout” was first used for a type of beer in the 1600s when was used to describe a “strong, stout” brew, and not necessarily a dark beer as it is today.

12. 1966 Pulitzer-winning Edward Albee play, with “A” : … DELICATE BALANCE

Playwright Edward Albee’s most famous play is “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Albee won three Pulitzer Prizes for Drama:

• 1967: “A Delicate Balance”
• 1975: “Seascape”
• 1994: “Three Tall Women”

Albee also won three Tony Awards:

• 1963: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (Best Play)
• 2002: “The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?”
• 2005: Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement

14. All-nighters? : RED-EYES

A red-eye flight is one departing late at night and arriving early the next morning. The term is a reference to tired passengers disembarking with red eyes.

21. Role in 1993’s “Tombstone” : EARP

“Tombstone” is a 1993 Western movie that has a storyline centered on the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and its aftermath. The cast includes Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday, and Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp. “Tombstone” was released six months before the ostensibly competing movie “Wyatt Earp” starring Kevin Costner. If there was a competition between the two films, then “Tombstone” won, both in terms of ticket sales and critical response.

28. Renaissance artist ___ della Francesca : PIERO

Piero della Francesca was an Early Renaissance painter and mathematician from modern-day Tuscany in Italy.

37. Expressive and quick-witted sorts, they say : GEMINIS

“Gemini” is the Latin word for “twins”.

39. Much of binary code : ONES

Our base-10 numeral system is also known as the decimal (sometimes “denary”) numeral system. Another common numeral system is base-2, which is also known as the binary system.

49. Something to gnaw on : T-BONE

The T-bone and porterhouse are related cuts of meat, with the latter being a larger version of the former, and both being cut from the short loin.

50. “The Vampire Diaries” protagonist : ELENA

“The Vampire Diaries” is a series of horror novels by L. J. Smith that is aimed at teens. There is a spin-off television series of the same name. I don’t do vampires …

53. Writer Janowitz : TAMA

Tama Janowitz is an American writer. Janowitz was born in San Francisco but has lived much of her life in New York City. In New York she hung around with the likes of Andy Warhol and became well known in literary circles. Her most famous work is a collection of short stories called “Slaves of New York”, which was made into a film of the same name in 1989.