0429-19 NY Times Crossword 29 Apr 19, Monday

Constructed by: Andrew Kingsley
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: Get Cracking

Today’s grid includes four sets of circled letters that each spell out a type of egg. Each egg has been “CRACKED”, in the sense that one letter is in the row above. Those eggs are:

  • OST’R’ICH
  • DINO’S’AUR
  • GO’O’SE
  • CHI’C’KEN

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 5m 15s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Where pumpkins grow : PATCH

It’s thought that the tradition of pumpkin carving originated in Ireland, although turnips and beets were used over there instead of pumpkins. The turnips and beets were carved for the festival called Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest season.

6 Count in Lemony Snicket books : OLAF

Count Olaf is the main antagonist in “A Series of Unfortunate Events”, the collection of children’s novels penned by Lemony Snicket (the pen name of Daniel Handler).

15 Prefix with technology and second : NANO-

Nanotechnology is the study of the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular level. Nanotechnology is essential to the electronic and biomaterials industries.

16 Greek earth goddess : GAEA

The Greek goddess personifying the earth was Gaea (meaning “land” or “earth” in Greek). The Roman equivalent goddess was Terra Mater, “Mother Earth”.

17 Firefighter Red : ADAIR

Red Adair was a famous fighter of fires in oil fields, and was a native of Houston, Texas. Adair’s exploits were the inspiration for a 1968 movie called “Hellfighters” starring John Wayne.

21 Suzuki with the M.L.B. record for hits in a single season (262) : ICHIRO

Ichiro Suzuki holds quite a few batting records including the single-season record for base hits (262), and a record-breaking streak of 10 consecutive 200-hit season. Ichiro Suzuki is a huge celebrity in his native-Japan. His agent says that if you address fan mail to “Ichiro Suzuki, Japan”, he’ll get your letter …

23 “The A-Team” actor with a mohawk : MR T

Mr. T’s real name is Laurence Tero Tureaud. Mr. T is famous for many things, including the wearing of excessive amounts of jewelry. He started this habit when he was working as a bouncer, wearing jewelry items that had been left behind by customers at a nightclub so that the items might be recognized and claimed. It was also as a bouncer that he adopted the name Mr. T. His catch phrase comes from the movie “Rocky III”. In the film, before he goes up against Rocky Balboa, Mr. T says, “No, I don’t hate Balboa, but I pity the fool”. He parlayed that line into quite a bit of success. He had a reality TV show called “I Pity the Fool”, and produced a motivational video called “Be Somebody … or Be Somebody’s Fool!”.

“The A-Team” is an action television series that originally ran in the eighties. The A-Team was a group of ex-US special forces personnel who became mercenaries. Star of the show was Hollywood actor George Peppard (as “Hannibal” Smith), ably assisted by Mr. T (as “B.A.” Baracus) and Robert Vaughn (as Hunt Stockwell).

Here is another example of a difference in terminology on either side of the Atlantic. What we call the Mohawk hairstyle in the US is known as a Mohican in the British Isles. The Mohawk hairstyle is named after the Mohawk nation, who wore their hair in the same fashion. The Mohawk style has been around for a long time elsewhere in the world. There was a well-preserved male body found in a bog near Dublin in Ireland in 2003. The body is about 2,000 years old, and has the Mohawk haircut.

24 Initials meaning “I’ve heard enough” : TMI

Too much information! (TMI!)

27 ___ Lanka : SRI

The island nation of Sri Lanka lies off the southeast coast of India. The name “Sri Lanka” translates from Sanskrit into English as “venerable island”. Before 1970, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, a name given to the country during British rule.

33 “Toy Story” boy : ANDY

1995’s “Toy Story” was the world’s first feature-length computer-animated movie. “Toy Story” was also the studio Pixar’s first production. The main roles in the film are Woody and Buzz Lightyear, who are voiced by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen respectively. Hanks was the first choice to voice Woody, but Allen was asked to voice Buzz after Billy Crystal turned down the role.

35 Serta competitor : SEALY

The Sealy Corporation makes mattresses. The company name comes from the city where it started out in 1881, namely Sealy, Texas. Sealy Corporation is now headquartered in Trinity, North Carolina.

41 Hot drink sometimes served with a marshmallow : COCOA

The beverages hot cocoa and hot chocolate differ from each other in that the latter contains cocoa butter, whereas the former does not.

42 Explorer Ericson : LEIF

Leif Erikson was a Norse explorer and the first European to land in North America, some 500 years before Christopher Columbus’s landing in 1492. The Norsemen named the area they discovered “Vinland”, which might translate as “Wine Land” or “Pasture Land”. Erikson built a small settlement called Leifsbudir, which archaeologists believe they have found in modern day Newfoundland, at L’Anse aux Meadows. The settlement discovered in Newfoundland is definitely Norse, but there is some dispute over whether it is actually Erikson’s Leifsbudir.

44 Neighbor of Ghana : TOGO

Togo is a country on the West African coast, and one of the smallest nations on the continent. It is located between Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north.

The country name “Ghana” translates as “warrior king” in the local language. The British established a colony they called Gold Coast in 1874, later to become Ghana, as part of the scramble by Europeans to settle as much of Africa as they could. One of Ghana’s most famous sons is Kofi Annan, the diplomat who served as General Secretary of the UN for ten years until the beginning of 2007.

47 Cuban-born Grammy winner Jon : SECADA

Jon Secada is a Cuban-American singer/songwriter, who was born in Havana and raised in Florida. Secada was hired as a background singer by Gloria Estefan in the late eighties, and soon after he started composing for her. It was Gloria Estefan that gave him his performing break, offering him solo spots on stage during her performances.

54 Disney dwarf with the shortest name : DOC

In the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale called “Snow White”, the seven dwarfs were not given any names. The names were added for the 1937 classic Disney film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. The seven dwarfs are:

  • Doc (the leader of the group)
  • Grumpy (that would be me, according to my wife …)
  • Happy
  • Sleepy
  • Bashful
  • Sneezy
  • Dopey

55 Pinocchio’s undoing : LIE

“The Adventures of Pinocchio” is an 1883 children’s novel by Carlo Collodi. It is all about an animated puppet named Pinocchio and Geppetto, his poor woodcarver father. Pinocchio is prone to telling lies, the stress of which causes his short nose to become longer.

56 One of the Kardashians : KIM

Kim Kardashian is a socialite and television personality. She was introduced into society by her friend, Paris Hilton. Kardashian’s name first hit the headlines when a homemade sex tape, made by her and singer Ray J, was leaked.

57 Spicy Korean side dish : KIMCHI

Kimchi is a traditional dish from Korea. The original kimchi is made from fermented vegetables, and is pretty strong stuff …

61 Clark of the Daily Planet : KENT

The “Daily Planet” is the fictional newspaper for which Clark Kent and Lois Lane work in the “Superman” universe. Clark and Lois’ editor-in-chief is Perry White.

64 Coffee drink sometimes served with milk “art” : LATTE

“Latte art” is the name given to the designs that can be drawn on the surface of coffee drinks. Some of those designs can be quite intricate.

66 The “A” of U.S.A.: Abbr. : AMER

The first known use of the phrase “United States of America” is in a letter dated January 2nd, 1776 from Irish-American Stephen Moylan, who was serving as acting secretary to General George Washington. Writing to Washington’s aide-de-camp Colonel Joseph Reed, Moylan stated:

I should like vastly to go with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain [to seek foreign assistance for the cause].

68 Patella’s joint : KNEE

The patella is the kneecap. The bone’s Latin name is “patella”, which is a diminutive form of “patina”, the word for “pan”. The idea is that the kneecap is pan-shaped.

69 Polling expert Silver : NATE

70 Monopoly cards : DEEDS

The street names in the original US version of the board game Monopoly are locations in or around Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Down

1 Biblical book of poems : PSALMS

The Greek word “psalmoi” originally meant “songs sung to a harp”, and gave us the word “psalms”. In the Jewish and Western Christian traditions, the Book of Psalms contains 150 individual psalms, divided into five sections.

2 181-square-mile country in the Pyrenees : ANDORRA

Andorra is a small principality nestled in the Pyrénées between France and Spain. Andorra is a very prosperous country, mainly due to its status as a tax haven and thriving tourist industry. We used help out the tourist industry there in the winters, enjoying a couple of skiing holidays there. Happy memories …

3 Honoring, as at a wedding : TOASTING

The tradition of toasting someone probably dates back to the reign of Charles II, when the practice was to drink a glass of wine to the health of a beautiful or favored woman. In those days, spiced toast was added to beverages to add flavor, so the use of the word “toast” was an indicator that the lady’s beauty would enhance the wine. Very charming, I must say …

4 Lit ___ (coll. course) : CRIT

Literary studies, also called literary criticism (lit. crit.), is the evaluation and interpretation of literature.

5 “On ___ Majesty’s Secret Service” : HER

“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is the sixth of the James Bond series films, and the only one to star George Lazenby in the leading role. He wasn’t a great choice for 007 …

6 Using LSD : ON ACID

LSD (known colloquially as “acid”) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …

7 Where mascara goes : LASH

Variants of mascara have been around a long time, and certainly there was a similar substance in use in Ancient Egypt. “Mascara” is a Spanish word meaning “stain, mask”.

8 Adamantly against : ANTI

The words “adamant” and “adamantine” can mean hard like rock or stony, in the literal sense. In the more figurative sense, someone who is adamant or adamantine is stubborn or inflexible, like a mule, mulish.

9 Number of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : FOUR

The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” started out as a parody of comic book superheroes, first appearing in a self-published comic book in 1984. A couple of years later the characters were picked up by someone who built a whole line toys around the characters, and then television and movies followed. Do you remember the names of all four of the Turtles? Their names were all taken from Renaissance artists:

  • Leonardo
  • Raphael
  • Michelangelo
  • Donatello

12 Shooting star : METEOR

A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic body travelling through space. Once in the atmosphere, the meteoroid is referred to as a “meteor” or “shooting star”. Almost all meteoroids burn up, but if one is large enough to survive and reach the ground then we call it a meteorite. The word “meteor” comes from the Greek “meteōros” meaning “high in the air”.

13 SoCal area bordering the neighborhoods of El Sereno and Boyle Heights : EAST LA

East Los Angeles (usually “East LA”) is the most populous “census-designated place” in California, and is home to over 125,000 people.

19 Uno + uno : DOS

“Uno, dos, tres” (one, two, three in Spanish)

21 Texter’s “if you ask me” : IMO

In my opinion (IMO)

26 Alexander who directed “Nebraska” and “Sideways” : PAYNE

Alexander Payne is a film director from Omaha, Nebraska. Payne’s most famous movies would be “Election” (1999), “About Schmidt” (2002) and “Sideways” (2004), all of which I would recommend. Payne was married for a few years to actress Sandra Oh, whom he directed in the film “Sideways”.

“Nebraska” is a really interesting 2013 movie starring Bruce Dern as an elderly man who heads to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect a million-dollar sweepstakes prize that is clearly a scam. This one is filmed in black & white, which adds to the mood nicely. I note that a local movie theater here did a one-day showing of a color version.

“Sideways” is a marvelous 2004 film that is an adaptation of a 2004 novel of the same name. In fact, “Sideways” is the first in a trilogy of comedic wine-themed novels by Rex Pickett, and was followed by “Vertical” (2010) and “Sideways 3 Chile” (2015). The “Sideways” movie stars Paul Giamatti as a depressed teacher and writer accompanying his friend on trip through wine country prior to that friend’s upcoming wedding. Great stuff …

29 Asimov or Newton : ISAAC

Isaac Asimov was a wonderful science fiction writer, and a professor of biochemistry. He was a favorite author as I was growing up and I must admit that some hero worship on my part led me to study and work as a biochemist for a short while early in my career. My favorite of his works is the collection of short stories called “I, Robot”, although Asimov’s most famous work is probably his “Foundation” trilogy of novels. Asimov wrote three autobiographies, the last of which was called “I, Asimov”, which was published in 1994, two years after his death.

Sir Isaac Newton was one of the most influential people in history, and the man who laid the groundwork for all of classical mechanics. The story about an apple falling on his head, inspiring him to formulate his theories about gravity, well that’s not quite true. Newton often told the story about observing an apple falling in his mother’s garden and how this made him acutely aware of the Earth’s gravitational pull. However, he made no mention of the apple hitting him on the head.

30 Japanese electronics giant : NEC

“NEC” is the name that the Nippon Electric Company chose for itself outside of Japan after a rebranding exercise in 1983.

39 ___ v. Wade : ROE

Roe v. Wade was decided in a US District Court in Texas in 1970, and reached the Supreme Court on appeal. The basic decision by the Supreme Court was that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy applied to an abortion, but that this right had to be balanced with a state’s interest in protecting an unborn child and a mother’s health. The Court further defined that the state’s interest became stronger with each trimester of a pregnancy. So, in the first trimester the woman’s right to privacy outweighed any state interest. In the second trimester the state’s interest in maternal health was deemed to be strong enough to allow state regulation of abortion for the sake of the mother. In the third trimester the viability of the fetus dictated that the state’s interest in the unborn child came into play, so states could regulate or prohibit abortions, except in cases where the mother’s life was in danger. I’m no lawyer, but that’s my understanding of the initial Supreme Court decision …

45 Buckeye : OHIOAN

Ohio is sometimes referred to as the Buckeye State, taking the name from the state tree. In turn, the buckeye tree gets its name from the appearance of its fruit, a dark nut with a light patch, thought to resemble a “buck’s eye”.

46 Play the slots, e.g. : GAMBLE

Slot machines earned the nickname “one-armed bandits” simply because they had “one arm”, the handle pulled to operate the machine. And, they also rob your money!

58 Tehran’s land : IRAN

Tehran is the capital of Iran and is the largest city in the Middle East, with a population of about 8.5 million. Iran has been around a really long time and Tehran is actually the country’s 31st national capital.

59 N.Y.C.’s home to Matisse’s “The Dance” : 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.

Henri Matisse was a French artist renowned for his contribution to modern art. In his early career, Matisse was classed as a “fauve”, one of the group of artists known as the “wild beasts” who emphasized strong color over realism in their works. He was a lifelong friend of Pablo Picasso, and the two were considered to be good-natured rivals so their works are often compared. One major difference between their individual portfolios is that Picasso tended to paint from his imagination, whereas Matisse tended to use nature as his inspiration.

60 Tech news site : CNET

c|net is an excellent technology website. c|net started out in 1994 as a television network specializing in technology news. The host of “American Idol”, Ryan Seacrest, started off his career as host of a c|net show.

61 “Citizen ___” : KANE

A central plot line in the 1941 movie “Citizen Kane” is a newsreel reporter’s quest to find the meaning of the dying word “Rosebud” spoken by the title character. Spoiler Alert … it is revealed at the end of the movie that “Rosebud” is the name of the sled used by Kane in his childhood, which was the only period of his life in which he was really happy.

63 Ang who directed “Brokeback Mountain” : LEE

Taiwanese director Ang Lee sure has directed a mixed bag of films, mixed in terms of genre but not in terms of quality. He was at the helm for such classics as “Sense & Sensibility” (my personal favorite), “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hulk”, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi”.

The very successful 2005 movie “Brokeback Mountain” is an adaptation of a short story written by Annie Proulx. The two romantic lead characters were Ennis del Mar (played by Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (played by Jake Gyllenhaal).

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Where pumpkins grow : PATCH
6 Count in Lemony Snicket books : OLAF
10 Apex : ACME
14 Snoozer’s sound : SNORE
15 Prefix with technology and second : NANO-
16 Greek earth goddess : GAEA
17 Firefighter Red : ADAIR
18 Class stars : A-STUDENTS
20 Misplaced : LOST
21 Suzuki with the M.L.B. record for hits in a single season (262) : ICHIRO
22 To date : YET
23 “The A-Team” actor with a mohawk : MR T
24 Initials meaning “I’ve heard enough” : TMI
25 Thread holder : SPOOL
27 ___ Lanka : SRI
28 Peter ___, Nixon impeachment hearings chairman : RODINO
32 General vibe : AURA
33 “Toy Story” boy : ANDY
35 Serta competitor : SEALY
37 Hop to it … or what to do to the various eggs in this puzzle’s shaded squares? : GET CRACKING
41 Hot drink sometimes served with a marshmallow : COCOA
42 Explorer Ericson : LEIF
44 Neighbor of Ghana : TOGO
47 Cuban-born Grammy winner Jon : SECADA
50 Little fellow : LAD
52 Go halfsies on : SHARE
54 Disney dwarf with the shortest name : DOC
55 Pinocchio’s undoing : LIE
56 One of the Kardashians : KIM
57 Spicy Korean side dish : KIMCHI
61 Clark of the Daily Planet : KENT
62 Triangular Swiss chocolate bar : TOBLERONE
64 Coffee drink sometimes served with milk “art” : LATTE
65 “Buy one, get one free” event : SALE
66 The “A” of U.S.A.: Abbr. : AMER
67 PC key above shift : ENTER
68 Patella’s joint : KNEE
69 Polling expert Silver : NATE
70 Monopoly cards : DEEDS

Down

1 Biblical book of poems : PSALMS
2 181-square-mile country in the Pyrenees : ANDORRA
3 Honoring, as at a wedding : TOASTING
4 Lit ___ (coll. course) : CRIT
5 “On ___ Majesty’s Secret Service” : HER
6 Using LSD : ON ACID
7 Where mascara goes : LASH
8 Adamantly against : ANTI
9 Number of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : FOUR
10 Get older : AGE
11 Words starting a request : CAN YOU …?
12 Shooting star : METEOR
13 SoCal area bordering the neighborhoods of El Sereno and Boyle Heights : EAST LA
19 Uno + uno : DOS
21 Texter’s “if you ask me” : IMO
24 “___ see it my way” : TRY TO
26 Alexander who directed “Nebraska” and “Sideways” : PAYNE
29 Asimov or Newton : ISAAC
30 Japanese electronics giant : NEC
31 Sturdy wood : OAK
34 Interior design : DECOR
36 Light purple : LILAC
38 Includes when sending an email : CCS
39 ___ v. Wade : ROE
40 “The best a man can get” sloganeer : GILLETTE
43 Blacked out : FAINTED
44 “Naughty, naughty” : TSK, TSK
45 Buckeye : OHIOAN
46 Play the slots, e.g. : GAMBLE
48 Stick like glue : ADHERE
49 Emphatic agreement : DO I!
51 Discourages : DETERS
53 Scrape (by) : EKE
58 Tehran’s land : IRAN
59 N.Y.C.’s home to Matisse’s “The Dance” : MOMA
60 Tech news site : CNET
61 “Citizen ___” : KANE
63 Ang who directed “Brokeback Mountain” : LEE
64 Pioneered : LED