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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
Solution to today’s SYNDICATED New York Times crossword in all other publications
CROSSWORD SETTER: Andrea Carla Michaels & Johanna Fenimore
THEME: Add an O … all of the theme answers are well know phrases, but with an O added to the end of one word:
17A. Warning about a chubby guy in some skimpy swimwear? : FULL SPEED(O) AHEAD
26A. No-good, awful frozen waffle? : DIRTY ROTTEN EGG(O)
45A. Icy winter greeting? : SNOWBALL IN HELL(O)
59A. Result of cleaning up some building toys? : NO LEG(O) TO STAND ON
COMPLETION TIME: 8m 50s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
“The Star Spangled Banner” was written by Francis Scott Key. The lyrics were originally a poem by Key, inspired by his witnessing of the bombarding by the British of the American forces at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814. The words were then set to the tune of a popular British drinking song written by John Stafford Smith called “The Anacreontic Song”, with Anacreontic Society being a men’s club in London.
When Pierre L’Enfant developed his famous plan for the nation’s capital, he referred to the rise in the center of the development as Jenkin’s Heights, although earlier records denoted the hill as New Troy. It was renamed when it was chosen as the site for the US Capitol Building.
16. Winemaking province of Italy : ASTI
Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. It is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
17. Warning about a chubby guy in some skimpy swimwear? : FULL SPEED(O) AHEAD
Speedo brand swim-wear was first produced in Australia in 1928, by a hosiery company that wanted to diversify. The brand name was chosen after a slogan competition among employees was won by “Speed on in your Speedos”. It was a long time ago, I guess …
Amun (also Amon and “Amun-Ra”) was a god in Egyptian mythology. Amun lends his name to our word “ammonia”, as the Romans called the ammonium chloride they collected near the Temple of Jupiter Amun “sal ammoniacus” (salt of Amun).
21. Many a four-wheel drive transport, for short : ATV
An all terrain vehicle.
According to Karl Marx:
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
23. Condo, e.g. : UNIT
The words “condominium” and “apartment” tend to describe the one type of residential property, a private living space with facilities shared with others residing in the same building or complex. The difference is that a condominium is usually owned, and an apartment is rented. At least that’s how it is in the US. The word “condominium” comes from the Latin “com” (together) and “dominum” (right of ownership).
25. “Wheel of Fortune” action : SPIN
Contestants have been spinning the “Wheel of Fortune” since it first aired in 1975.
Eggo is the brand name of a line of frozen waffles made by Kellogs. When they were introduced in the 1930s, the name “Eggo” was chosen to promote the “egginess” of the batter. “Eggo” replaced the original choice for a name, “Froffles”, created by melding “frozen” and “waffles”.
34. First word of the Lord’s Prayer : OUR
The Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father”) is a central prayer in Christian religions, and is found in two places in the New Testament. In the version in the Gospel of Matthew the last line of the prayer is “deliver from evil”. In the Gospel of Luke the last line is “lead us not into temptation”.
Anaïs Nin was a French author, famous for her journals that she wrote for over sixty years from the age of 11 right up to her death. She also wrote highly regarded erotica, and cited D. H. Lawrence as someone from whom she drew inspiration.
39. Lead pumper, in old slang : GAT
“Gat” is the slang term for the Gatling gun, the precursor to the modern machine gun. The Gatling gun was invented by Dr. Richard J. Gatling in 1861. Apparently he was inspired to invent it so that one man could do as much damage as a hundred, thereby reducing the size of armies and diminishing the suffering caused by war. Go figure …
In the west, we tend to think of yoga as a physical discipline, a means of exercise that uses specific poses to stretch and strengthen muscles. While it is true that the ancient Indian practice of yoga does involve such physical discipline, the corporeal aspect of the practice plays a relatively small part in the whole philosophy. Other major components are meditation, ethical behavior, breathing and contemplation.
50. Ruhr road : BAHN
I knew a man back in Ireland, a German national from the city of Essen in the Ruhr Valley. He had very sad tales to tell from the days of WWII. As a young boy he lost his (socialist) parents during the Nazi purges early in the war. In 1943, he was living with his grandmother and still attending school when he was drafted into the army along with the rest of his class (at 14 years old, he told me). His platoon leader was his old school teacher who made a point of tutoring the boys in place of military drilling. One day, he was on guard duty with his class/platoon at the dam above the city, and along come the Dam Busters, with their bouncing bombs. The raid was successful (from the perspective of the Allies), but he described terrible famine faced by the people below the dam due to flooding of the farmland that surrounded the factories.
Kraków is the second largest city in Poland, and was a capital for many centuries. The Archbishop of Kraków was Karol Wojtyla, one of the most famous people to have lived in the city. In 1978 Archbishop Wotjyla was installed as Pope John Paul II.
59. Result of cleaning up some building toys? : NO LEG(O) TO STAND ON
Lego is manufactured by Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1934, and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949, sold as “Automatic Binding Bricks”. I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.
65. Gen ___ (boomers’ kids) : XERS
The term Generation X originated in the UK, the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book discussed a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By the latest accepted definition, Gen-Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.
Down
“Sofa
3. Capital near Lillehammer : OSLO
Lillehammer, Norway hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1994. The ‘94 Winter Games were the first to be held two years after the Summer Olympics, and so took place only two years after the ‘92 Games, held in Albertville, France.
“Lys” is the French word for “lily”, as in fleur-de-lys, the heraldic symbol often associated with the French monarchy.
6. Area in need of urban renewal : GHETTO
The first “ghetto” was an island in Venice that was used for confining Venetian Jews. The same island was used to store slag from a foundry, and “getto” was the Venetian word for “slag”. The term ghetto spread across Europe, at the beginning always associated with repressed Jewish populations. Ultimately it came to mean any urban area housing a a minority group under economic and social pressure.
Liev Schreiber is highly regarded as a stage actor, and has many classical roles under his belt. He won a Tony in 2005 for his Broadway performance in “Glengarry Glen Ross”, and earned excellent reviews for his performance in Shakespeare’s “Cymbeline”.
10. Lanai ladies : WAHINES
“Wahine” is the word for “woman”, in both Hawaiian and Maori.
12. “A.S.A.P.!” : STAT
The exact etymology of “stat”, used to mean “immediately” in the medical profession, seems to have been lost in the mists of time. It probably comes from the Latin “statim” meaning “to a standstill, immediately”. A reader of this blog has helpfully suggested that the term may also come from the world of laboratory analysis, where the acronym STAT stands for “short turn around time”.
18. Au ___ : PAIR
An “au pair” is a domestic assistant from a foreign country working and living as part of a host family. The term “au pair” is French, and means “on a par”, indicating that an au pair is treated as an equal in the host family.
26. Patron saint of France : DENYS
Not only is Saint Denis (also Denys) the patron saint of France, but he is also the patron saint of Paris. He was the Bishop of Paris in the 3rd century AD, and was martyred by having his head chopped off. The legend surrounding this event is that the executed Denis picked up his head and walked for six miles, delivering a sermon the whole way.
27. Zeus bound him to an eternally revolving wheel : IXION
Ixion was one of the bad guys of Greek mythology. His initial treachery was the murder of his father-in-law, the first act of kin-slaying recorded in a Greek myth. He was outcast by everyone, except for Zeus who took pity on him and invited him to Olympus, home to the gods. There, Ixion showed his gratitude to his host by lusting after his wife, Hera. When Zeus realized his intentions he conjured up a cloud to take on the appearance of his wife, and sure enough, Ixion attacked the cloud and raped the image of Hera. Zeus expelled Ixion from Olympus, sending him to Hades where he had him bound to a fiery wheel that was destined to spin for eternity. Yep, a bad guy …
Ringo Starr’s real name is Richard Starkey. Before he joined the Beatles (replacing drummer Pete Best), Starkey played with the Raving Texans. It was with this band that he adopted the name “Ringo Starr” because he wore a lot of rings, and he thought it sounded “cowboyish”. Back then his drum solos were billed as “Starr Time”.
Nikolai Gogol was a Russian writer, born in Ukraine. He wrote a lot of satirical pieces that attacked corrupt bureaucracy in Russia, which led to his being exiled. His most famous work is probably “Taras Bul’ba”, from 1836.
38. Temple University team : OWLS
Temple University was founded in 1888, and started out as a night school offering classes to people of limited means who had to hold down jobs during the day. These students earned themselves the nickname of “night owls”, leading to the use of “Owls” for Temple’s athletic teams.
46. E-journal : BLOG
“Blog” is a melding of the words “Web” and “log”. This blog is a “log” of all the New York Times Crosswords published, and I post them on the “Web”.
The ibis is a wading bird, revered in ancient Egypt. “Ibis” is an interesting word grammatically speaking. You can have one “ibis”, two “ibises” and a flock of “ibis”. And if you want to go with the classical plural, you can have two “ibides”!
Thomas Nast was an American caricaturist and cartoonist. He was the creator of the Republican Party elephant, the Democratic Party’s donkey, Uncle Sam and the image of the plump and jocular Santa Claus that we use today.
51. Kentucky’s Fort ___ : KNOX
Fort Knox is actually a US Army base, but it lends its name to the adjacent facility, the United States Bullion Depository. Most of the US gold reserves are in Fort Knox, although it isn’t the biggest gold repository in the US. That honor goes to the vault under the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in Manhattan. Most of the gold stored in that vault belongs to foreign nations and banks.
Did you ever see the Hitchcock film “Rope”? It’s a great movie starring James Stewart, and is inspired by the real story of Leopold and Loeb, two young Chicago students who murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks in 1942. The pair carried out the murder simply because they wanted to prove that they could commit the perfect crime. Their undoing was that Leopold left his distinctive eyeglasses near the body. Chilling stuff …
Joe DiMaggio was born not too far from here, in Martinez, California, the son of Italian immigrants. The family moved to San Francisco when Joltin’ Joe was just a baby. Joe’s Dad was a fisherman, and it was his hope that all his sons would follow him into his trade. But Joe always felt sick at the smell of fish, so fishing’s loss was baseball’s gain.
54. “Monty Python and the ___ Grail” : HOLY
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was released as a movie in 1975, and was a great success. Some thirty years later the film’s storyline was used as inspiration for the hit musical “Spamalot”.
61. “You’ve got mail” co. : AOL
Founded as Quantum Computer Services in 1983, America Online changed its name in 1989. As the company went international, the acronym AOL was used in order to shake off the “US-centric” sound to “America Online”. During the heady days of AOL’s success, the company could not keep up with the growing number of subscribers, so people trying to connect often encountered busy signals. That’s when users called AOL “Always Off-Line”.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Grumpy expression : SCOWL
6. Dollop : GLOB
10. Do a traditional Monday chore : WASH
14. Anthem’s opener : OH SAY
15. Capitol ___ : HILL
16. Winemaking province of Italy : ASTI
17. Warning about a chubby guy in some skimpy swimwear? : FULL SPEEDO AHEAD
20. Chief Theban deity : AMON
21. Many a four-wheel drive transport, for short : ATV
22. Religion, to the masses, per Marx : OPIATE
23. Condo, e.g. : UNIT
25. “Wheel of Fortune” action : SPIN
26. No-good, awful frozen waffle? : DIRTY ROTTEN EGGO
33. Have a life : EXIST
34. First word of the Lord’s Prayer : OUR
35. They may have “II” or “III” after their names : SONS
36. “A Woman Speaks” writer Anaïs : NIN
37. Villages : TOWNS
39. Lead pumper, in old slang : GAT
40. Meditation on a mat : YOGA
42. She-sheep : EWE
43. Fern’s seed : SPORE
45. Icy winter greeting? : SNOWBALL IN HELLO
49. “___ for the poor” : ALMS
50. Ruhr road : BAHN
51. Former Polish capital : KRAKOW
54. Part of H.R.H. : HIS
55. Right-hand person : AIDE
59. Result of cleaning up some building toys? : NO LEGO TO STAND ON
62. Sign on a shop’s door : OPEN
63. One may be leading or supporting : ROLE
64. Arctic, for one : OCEAN
65. Gen ___ (boomers’ kids) : XERS
66. Custodian’s ringful : KEYS
67. Alternative to purchase : LEASE
Down
1. Couch : SOFA
2. Bosom buddy : CHUM
3. Capital near Lillehammer : OSLO
4. Squirrels’ stash : WALNUTS
5. Fleur-de-___ : LYS
6. Area in need of urban renewal : GHETTO
7. Actor Schreiber : LIEV
8. Like Mother Hubbard : OLD
9. Filmed bits that don’t make it on the air : BLOOPERS
10. Lanai ladies : WAHINES
11. Researching whales, say : ASEA
12. “A.S.A.P.!” : STAT
13. Camouflage : HIDE
18. Au ___ : PAIR
19. “… hear ___ drop” : A PIN
24. W.S.J. rival : NYT
25. Bedazzle : STUN
26. Patron saint of France : DENYS
27. Zeus bound him to an eternally revolving wheel : IXION
28. Fab Four name : RINGO
29. Dry (off) : TOWEL
30. Nikolai who wrote “Diary of a Madman” : GOGOL
31. Bump on a tree : GNARL
32. Bone: Prefix : OSTEO-
37. Collaboration : TEAMWORK
38. Temple University team : OWLS
41. Rouses : AWAKENS
43. “Quiet!” : SHH
44. Sinners may do it : PENANCE
46. E-journal : BLOG
47. Everglades birds : IBISES
48. Cartoonist Thomas : NAST
51. Kentucky’s Fort ___ : KNOX
52. Hitchcock classic seemingly filmed in one continuous take : ROPE
53. DiMag, e.g., for his entire career : ALER
54. “Monty Python and the ___ Grail” : HOLY
56. Notion : IDEA
57. “___ you’re told!” : DO AS
58. Cousin of -ette or -trix : -ENNE
60. Bathwater temperature tester : TOE
61. “You’ve got mail” co. : AOL
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