Category: Alex Fay

The name’s William Ernest Butler, but please call me Bill. I grew up in Ireland, but now live out here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m retired now, from technology businesses that took our family all over the world. I answer all emails, so please feel free to email me at bill@paxient.com

If you are working on the New York Times crossword in any other publication, you are working on the syndicated puzzle. Here is a link to my answers to today’s SYNDICATED New York Times crossword. To find any solution other than today’s, enter the crossword number (e.g. 1225, 0107) in the “Search the Blog” box above.

This is my solution to the crossword published in the New York Times today …

Completion Time: 8m 37s
Theme: SPLIT, DIVIDED and BROKEN … the three themed answers across, each point to two themed answers down e.g 20A: SPLIT DECI-SION points to 38D: DECI and 36D: SION.
Answers I missed: 0

TODAY’S WIKI-EST, AMAZONIAN GOOGLIES
Across
1: LISA: Lisa Simpson is Bart’s brainy younger sister, on TV’s “The Simpsons“.

14 ONCE: Grimm’s fairy tales often begin, “Once upon a time …”.

15 ELLE: In French, lui is the word for “him” and elle is the word for “her”.

16 TYLER: William Henry Harrison died in 1841, after only one month in office, simply from complications arising from a cold. After some confusion due to the unexpected circumstance, John Tyler was sworn into office two days later.

23 EELER: A sniggler is a person who angles for eels (as is an eeler). The terms comes from “snig”, a young eel, which in turn is probably related to Old English snegge meaning “snail”.

24 NHL: The St. Louis Blues take their name from the song “St. Louis Blues“, a jazz and indeed popular music classic.

25 ACE: An ace is a “one” in a hand of cards.

48 ON, ON: This quote is from Henry’s famous address to his troops before battle in Shakespeare’s Henry V. You’ll recognize the first line for sure “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more …”

49 POR: Por favor, Spanish for “please”.

52 IRA: Roll over retirement funds into an Individual Retirement Account.

53 OED: We own the magnificent two-volume version of the Oxford English Dictionary.

55 NIOBE: In Greek mythology, when Niobe’s children were killed, she fled to Mt. Sipylus where she was turned to stone, and weeped for eternity. There is in fact a Niobe’s Rock in Mt. Sypylus which resembles a female face, and is known as “The Weeping Rock”.

62 STOAS: Stoas (more correctly “stoae”) are covered walkways with columns on either side, or perhaps columns along one side, and a wall on the other.

69 EDDAS: The Poetic Edda and Prose Edda are two ancient works that are the source of much of Norse mythology.

71 NHRA: The National Hot Rod Association.

Down
3 SCULLY: In X-Files Agent Dana Scully was played by the very talented Gillian Anderson.

6 ELIE: Elie Wiesel is a holocaust survivor, best known for his book “Night” which tells of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald.

7 ALEC: The only movie I really liked Alec Baldwin in was “The Hunt for Red October“. Folks seem to like him now on “30 Rock“.

9 ATTILA: Attila the Hun, was the most feared enemy of the Roman Empire in his day, until he died in 453.

10 PYRO: A pyromaniac might be an expert in playing with matches.

11 ALAN ALDA: Alan Alda played the Republican candidate for President in series 5 & 6 of The West Wing


30 -ASE: For example, amyl-ase, the enzyme in saliva (that breaks down starches in food).

32 SCHMO: Comes into usage as American slang from Yiddish.

36 SION: Whether or not the Priory of Sion is real or not is the subject of much discussion. In The Da Vinci Code, it is presented as real.

39 IGOR: Igor has been the assistant to Dracula, Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein, among others.

47 TEK: William Shatner’s name appears as author of the “TekWar” series of novels, but he had a co-writer.

49 POTASH: Potash is the common name for potassium carbonate, as well as other minerals containing the element potassium.

56 IRWIN: Hale Irwin won three US Open championships, and now plays on the senior tour.

58 RASA: Tabula rasa is the idea that people are born with a “blank slate”, and that knowledge comes from experience and perception.

63 TED: As well as playing for the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams served as a pilot in the Marine Corps in World War II and the Korean War.