0902-26 NY Times Crossword 2 Sep 26, Wednesday

Bill’s time: 10m 44s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A “*M*elts in your *m*outh” candies … or a hint to this puzzle’s theme : M AND M’S

Forrest Mars, Sr. was the founder of the Mars Company. Forrest invented the Mars Bar while living over in England and then developed M&M’s when he returned to the US. Mars came up with the idea for M&M’s when he saw soldiers in the Spanish Civil War eating chocolate pellets. Those pellets had a hard shell of tempered chocolate on the outside to prevent them from melting. Mars got some of the funding to develop the M&M from Bruce Murrie, the son of the president of Hershey’s Chocolate. It is the “M” and “M” from “Mars” and “Murrie” that give the name to the candy.

14A *M*ama *M*orton of “Chicago,” for one : MATRON

The 2002 musical film “Chicago” is based on the 1975 stage musical of the same name, which in turn is based on a 1926 play, also of the same name. 2002’s “Chicago” was a big hit, and was the first musical to win the Best Picture Oscar since “Oliver!” in 1968.

16A *M*arco Polo *m*ade his way across it : ASIA

Marco Polo was a merchant from Venice and a famous traveler throughout Asia. Polo journeyed with his father and uncle on an epic tour of Central Asia and China that lasted 24 years. Marco tends to be the member of the party we remember today though, because it was he who documented their travels in a book called “Il Milione” (usually “The Travels of Marco Polo” in English).

17A *M*uch of *M*ali : SAHARA

The name “Sahara” means “desert” in Arabic. The Sahara is just that, a great desert covering almost 4 million square miles of Northern Africa. That’s almost the size of the United States.

The Republic of Mali is a landlocked country in western Africa located south of Algeria. Formerly known as French Sudan, the nation’s most famous city is Timbuktu. Mali is the third-largest producer of gold on the continent, after South Africa and Ghana.

20A *M*ulticolored implements in *m*any art drawers : MAGIC MARKERS

The felt-tip marking pen was patented in 1910. The marking pen was popularized when the Magic Marker brand was introduced in 1953.

22A *M*arkdown on Cyber *M*onday, e.g. : DEAL

Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving, when retailers offer incentives to online shoppers in the hope of boosting sales. The term “Cyber Monday” was coined in 2005 in a press release issued by the website Shop.org. In recent years, consumers have been spending more money online on Cyber Monday than any other day in the year.

24A *M*aroon and *m*ahogany, for two : SHADES

“Marron” is the French word for “chestnut”, which gives us our word “maroon” meaning chestnut-colored, dark brownish-red.

Mahogany is a type of tropical hardwood that is known for its rich color, durability, and beauty. Once widely used in the construction of luxury furniture, boats, and musical instruments due to its desirable qualities, one often sees sustainable alternatives these days as many species of mahogany are now endangered.

25A *M*an’s “*m*onkey suit” : TUX

Apparently, the style of men’s evening dress called a “tuxedo” was first worn to a country club event in 1886 in New York. The use of a dark dinner jacket without tails became fashionable at the club with the members, and the tradition spread from there. The country club was located in Tuxedo Park, New York, giving the style of dress its name.

29A *M*arshall *M*athers ___ Eminem : AKA

Rap star Eminem’s real name is Marshall Mathers. He grew up poor in Saint Joseph, Missouri, raised by a single mom as the family was abandoned by his father when he was 18 months old. Marshall and his mother moved around the country before settling in a suburb of Detroit. He didn’t do well at school, and dropped out at the age of 17. But in the end, he made it pretty big …

32A *M*et *m*elody : ARIA

The Metropolitan Opera (often simply “the Met”) of New York City is the largest classical music organization in the country, presenting about 220 performances each and every year. Founded in 1880, the Met is renowned for using technology to expand its audiences. Performances have been broadcast live on radio since 1931, and on television since 1977. And since 2006 you can go see a live performance from New York in high definition on the big screen, at a movie theater near you …

36A *M*ade eyes at in the *m*anner of a satyr : OGLED

The satyrs of Greek mythology came with a very high sex drive. They are the “rude” male subjects drawn on the side of old Greek vases. The nubile maidens known as nymphs were often an object of attention for the satyrs.

46A *M*aking out openly or a *m*obile device, in brief : PDA

Personal digital assistant (PDA)

Public display of affection (PDA)

49A *M*odern-day name for the American *M*essenger Co. : UPS

United Parcel Service (UPS) is based in Sandy Springs, Georgia and has its own airline that operates out of Louisville, Kentucky. UPS often goes by the nickname “Brown”, because of its brown delivery trucks and brown uniforms.

56A *M*.L.B. *M*.V.P. nicknamed the “Commerce Comet” : MICKEY MANTLE

Mickey Mantle only played professional baseball for one team, spending 18 years with the New York Yankees. Mickey Mantle memorabilia is highly prized, especially since he retired from the game in 1969, and even more so since he died in 1995. The only other player memorabilia said to command a higher price is Babe Ruth’s. Mantle holds the record for the most career home runs by a switch hitter, as well as the most World Series home runs.

60A *M*idwest state that’s home to *M*oline : ILLINOIS

Moline is a city in Illinois located on the border with Iowa. The biggest employer in town by far is John Deere, which has its headquarters there.

61A *M*any-toothed *m*etal tool : RIPSAW

In woodworking, a cut across the grain is known as a cross cut. A cut along the grain is called a rip cut. Most saws are designed to perform the best cross cuts, but there is a special ripsaw that more easily cuts straight lines along the grain.

66A *M*artial arts* m*aster Bruce : LEE

Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco, raised in Hong Kong and returned to the US to attend college. Sadly, Bruce Lee died when he was only 32 years old, due to cerebral edema (a swelling of the brain) attributed to adverse reactions to the pain killing drug Equagesic.

69A *M*odern *m*odem inits. : DSL

The initialism “DSL” originally stood for Digital Subscriber Loop, but is now accepted to mean (Asymmetric) Digital Subscriber Line. It is a technology that allows Internet service to be delivered down the same telephone line as voice service, by separating the two into different frequency signals.

A modem is a device that is used to facilitate the transmission of a digital signal over an analog line. At one end of the line, a modem is used to “modulate” an analog carrier signal to encode digital information. At the other end of the line, a modem is used to “demodulate” the analog carrier signal and so reproduce the original digital information. This modulation-demodulation gives the device its name: a MOdulator-DEModulator, or “modem”.

Down

1D *M*etric *m*easurements: Abbr. : MMS

Millimeter (mm)

4D *M*olière’s or *M*amet’s field : DRAMA

“Molière” was the stage name of French actor and playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. It is amazing how well the comedies of Molière, written in the 1600s, entertain us on stage today. Among his best-known plays are “The Misanthrope”, “The School for Wives” and “Tartuffe or the Hypocrite”.

David Mamet is best known as a playwright, and indeed won a Pulitzer for his 1984 play “Glengarry Glen Ross”. Mamet is also a successful screenwriter and received Oscar nominations for the films “The Verdict” (1982) and “Wag the Dog” (1997).

8D *M*armot or *m*armoset : ANIMAL

Marmots are large ground squirrels. Included in the genus is the famous groundhog, but not the equally famous prairie dog.

A marmoset is a small New World monkey. Marmosets are unusual in that they carry two sets of DNA. Marmosets almost always bear fraternal twins, and the reproductive cells of each twin includes DNA from the other twin.

11D *M*en’s tennis champ with a Presidential *M*edal of Freedom : ASHE

Arthur Ashe was a professional tennis player from Richmond, Virginia. In his youth, Ashe found himself having to travel great distances to play against Caucasian opponents due to the segregation that still existed in his home state. He was rewarded for his dedication by being selected for the 1963 US Davis Cup team, the first African-American player to be so honored. Ashe continued to run into trouble because of his ethnicity though, and in 1968 was denied entry into South Africa to play in the South African Open. In 1979, Ashe suffered a heart attack and had bypass surgery, with follow-up surgery four years later during which he contracted HIV from blood transfusions. Ashe passed away in 1993 due to complications from AIDS. Shortly afterwards, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.

13D *M*illiners *m*anufacture them : HATS

A milliner is someone who makes, designs or sells hats. Back in the 1500s, the term described someone who sold hats made in Milan, Italy, hence the name “milliner”.

19D *M*ilwaukie and *M*ount Hood are here : OREGON

Mount Hood is a volcanic peak in northern Oregon. It is the highest peak in the state, and is located about 50 miles southeast of Portland. There are six ski areas on the mountain, including a resort called Timberline that has North America’s only lift that operates year-round for skiing.

22D *M*alodorous *M*alaysian fruit : DURIAN

Durian is a tropical fruit that is native to Southeast Asia. It has a spiky outer shell and a creamy, custard-like flesh that can vary in color from yellow to orange. Durian is known for its strong odor, which has been described as everything from rotten eggs to turpentine. Some people love the smell, while others find it offensive. The smell can be so offensive that it is illegal to carry durian on the Singapore subway system.

25D *M*ajor *m*etropolis on a bay of the same name : TAMPA

Tampa Bay is a massive natural harbor on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The name “Tampa” is believed to derive from the Calusa Native American phrase for “sticks of fire”, which is perhaps a fitting moniker given that the region is the lightning capital of North America.

The Florida city of Tampa has been known as “the Big Guava” since the seventies. The term is imitative of New York’s “Big Apple”, and refers to the unsuccessful search for the reported wild guava trees that were once hoped to be the basis of a new industry for the area. Tampa has also been called “Cigar City”, a reference to the cigar industry that fueled the area’s growth starting in the 1880s.

27D *M*ap word in *M*arseille : ICI

Marseille (often written “Marseilles” in English) is the second largest city in France, after Paris. Marseille is also the largest commercial port in the country. I used to live nearby, and can attest that Marseille and environs is a great place to visit …

29D *M*ain *m*an for Bill Clinton, 1993-2001 : AL GORE

Al Gore was born in Washington DC, and is the son of Al Gore, Sr., then a US Representative for the state of Tennessee. After deferring his military service in order to attend Harvard, the younger Gore became eligible for the draft on graduation. Many of his classmates found ways of avoiding the draft, but Gore decided to serve and even took the “tougher” option of joining the army as an enlisted man. Actor Tommy Lee Jones shared a house with Gore in college and says that his buddy told him that even if he could find a way around the draft, someone with fewer options than him would have to go in his place and that was just wrong.

33D *M*agician’s or *m*arionettist’s performance : ACT

A marionette is a type of puppet, one that is controlled from above by a series of strings or wires. The term “marionette” is French for “little, little Mary” and is probably a reference to one of the first such puppets, which depicted the Virgin Mary.

35D *M*ovement of* m*oney digitally from bank to bank, in brief : EFT

Electronic funds transfer (EFT)

39D *M*ild-*m*annered characteristic? : HYPHEN

“Hyphen” is a Greek word that came into English via Latin while retaining the meaning “mark joining two syllables or words”. It is speculated that the mark was introduced to indicate how a word should be sung. The term comes from the Greek “hypo” and “hen” and translates literally as “under one”.

50D *M*outh *m*oistener : SALIVA

Ultimately, our contemporary term “saliva” is the Latin word for “spittle”.

62D *M*usician Cooke who sang “You Send *M*e” : SAM

“You Send Me” is a 1957 song written and recorded by Sam Cooke, his debut single. “You Send Me” was originally released as the B-side to a recording by Cooke of “Summertime” from George Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess”. The B-side turned out to be more popular with disk jockeys, and so the subsequent releases had the A-side and B-side designations switched.

64D *M*ing-Na of 1998’s “*M*ulan” : WEN

Ming-Na Wen is an actress who is perhaps best known for voicing the title character in the animated film “Mulan” and its sequel, and for playing Fennec Shand in the “Star Wars” franchise. Wen is trilingual, being fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.