0703-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 3 Jul 17, Monday

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CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTOR: Randall J. Hartman
THEME: Fails
Each of today’s themed answers ends with a synonym of “fail”, the noun:

25D. Gets an F : FAILS

17A. Air Force smart weapon : LASER-GUIDED BOMB
25A. Pioneering high jump maneuver of the 1960s : FOSBURY FLOP
43A. Thanksgiving entree : ROAST TURKEY
55A. 1956 Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis comedy : HOLLYWOOD OR BUST

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 5m 13s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Tokyo’s land : JAPAN
The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area on the planet. 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies are headquartered in Tokyo. And the residents of Tokyo eat very well. Michelin has awarded more Michelin stars to Tokyo than any other city in the world.

6. How Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic : SOLO
Charles Lindbergh was the American pilot who made the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of nearly 3,600 miles. He won the accolades of a whole country for that feat, and was awarded the Medal of Honor (for which Lindbergh was eligible, as an Army Reserve officer). His new-found fame brought tragedy to his door, however, when a kidnapper took his infant son from his home in East Amwell, New Jersey. A ransom was paid in part, but the child was never returned, and was found dead a few weeks later. It was as a result of this case that Congress made kidnapping a federal offence should there be any aspect of the crime that crosses a state line.

10. “Atlas Shrugged” author Ayn : RAND
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist born Alisa Rosenbaum. Her two best known works are her novels “The Fountainhead” published in 1943 and “Atlas Shrugged” from 1957. Back in 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City. Soon after, she gathered a group of admirers around her with whom she discussed philosophy and shared drafts of her magnum opus, “Atlas Shrugged”. This group called itself “The Collective”, and one of the founding members was none other than future Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan. Rand described herself as “right-wing” politically, and both she and her novel “Atlas Shrugged” have become inspirations for the American conservatives, and the Tea Party in particular.

15. Minnesota baseballer : TWIN
The Minnesota Twins baseball team started out life as the Kansas City Blues in 1894, before becoming the Washington Senators in 1901. The team arrived in Minneapolis in 1961.

20. Atlanta-based cable channel : TBS
The tbs cable television station started out in 1967 as local broadcast TV station in Atlanta. The station’s first call letters were WJRJ-TV, and this was changed to WTCG in 1970 when it was acquired by Ted Turner (the TCG stood for Turner Communications Group). In 1976, Turner started distributing WTCG via satellite making its programming available in other parts of the country. WTCG was only the second channel to transmit via satellite, following HBO. The difference was that WTCG was broadcast without requiring a premium subscription. The station’s call sign was changed again in 1979 to WTBS, with TBS standing for Turner Broadcasting System. In 1981, the channel adopted the moniker “Superstation WTBS”.

21. Cry after an errant golf shot : FORE!
No one seems to know for sure where the golfing term “fore!” comes from. It has been used at least as far back as 1881, and since then has been called out to warn other golfers that a wayward ball might be heading their way. My favorite possibility for its origin is that it is a contraction of the Gaelic warning cry “Faugh a Ballagh!” (clear the way!) which is still called out in the sport of road bowling. Road bowling is an Irish game where players bowl balls along roads between villages, trying to reach the end of the course in as few bowls as possible, just like in golf!

25. Pioneering high jump maneuver of the 1960s : FOSBURY FLOP
American Dick Fosbury introduced the world to a new style of jumping for the high jump event in 1965, and then used it to win the 1968 Summer Olympic gold. Athletes have been using basically the same style ever since then.

32. Sean of “The Lord of the Rings” : ASTIN
Sean Astin is best known for playing the title role in the 1993 film “Rudy” and the character Samwise Gamgee in the “Lord of the Rings” movies. You might also have seen him playing Lynn McGill in the 5th season of “24”. Astin is the son of actress Patty Duke.

33. “Apollo 13” director Howard : RON
Ron Howard sure has come a long way since playing Opie Taylor on “The Andy Griffith Show”. He has directed some fabulous movies including favorites of mine like “Apollo 13”, “The Da Vinci Code” and “A Beautiful Mind”, the latter earning Howard a Best Director Oscar.

“Apollo 13” is a great film, and supposedly one that is historically and technically accurate. The film is an adaption of mission commander Jim Lovell’s book “Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13”. I am going to have to put that book on my Christmas list …

34. Superboy’s love interest ___ Lang : LANA
Smallville, Kansas is the town on Earth in which Superman grew up (as Clark Kent). One of Clark’s best friends in Smallville, and the romantic interest of his youth, was Lana Lang.

38. Slightly cracked, as a door : AJAR
Our word “ajar” is thought to come from Scottish dialect, in which “a char” means “slightly open”.

39. Superman’s love interest Lois ___ : LANE
Lois Lane has been the love interest of Superman/Clark Kent since the comic series was first published in 1938. Lois and Clark both work for the big newspaper in the city of Metropolis called “The Daily Planet”. The couple finally got hitched in the comics (and on television’s “Lois and Clark”) in 1996. But never mind all that … one has to wonder how challenging the crossword is in “The Daily Planet” …

41. Jack’s fairy tale foe : GIANT
“Jack and the Beanstalk” is a fairy tale from England. In the story, young Jack sells the family cow for some magic beans. He plants the beans and a massive beanstalk grows up into the sky. At the top of the beanstalk there lives an ogre. Jack climbs the beanstalk and adventures ensue …

42. Sign outside a sold-out show : SRO
Standing room only (SRO)

43. Thanksgiving entree : ROAST TURKEY
Thanksgiving Day was observed on different dates in different states for many years, until Abraham Lincoln fixed the date for the whole country in 1863. Lincoln’s presidential proclamation set that date as the last Thursday in November. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, arguing that the earlier date would give the economy a much-needed boost.

46. Noggin : HEAD
A slang term for a “head” might be “bean” or “noggin”.

48. Captain America carries one : SHIELD
Captain America is a fictional superhero in comics published by Marvel Comics. He is the alter ego of a weak man called Steve Rogers who was given an experimental serum by the US Government during WWII.

52. “Elvis ___ left the building” : HAS
The popular phrase “Elvis has left the building” has its roots in the concerts given by the King in his heyday. It was normal for fans to hang around after a performance in hopes of seeing their idol one more time. This became such an issue that an announcement was routinely made that “Elvis has left the building”.

59. With 41-Down, “Alice’s Restaurant” singer : ARLO …
(41D. See 59-Across : … GUTHRIE)
Arlo Guthrie is the son of Woody Guthrie. Both father and son are renowned for their singing of protest songs about social injustice. Arlo is most famous for his epic “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, a song that lasts a full 18m 34s. In the song Guthrie tells how, after being drafted, he was rejected for service in the Vietnam War based on his criminal record. He had only one incident on his public record, a Thanksgiving Day arrest for littering and being a public nuisance when he was 18-years-old.

60. Ancient region on the Aegean Sea : IONIA
Lydia and Ionia were ancient territories in a part of the world now covered by modern-day Turkey. Both territories eventually fell under Greek and then Roman rule.

The Aegean Sea is that part of the Mediterranean that lies between Greece and Turkey. Within the Aegean Sea are found the Aegean Islands, a group that includes Crete and Rhodes.

63. Writer ___ Allan Poe : EDGAR
Edgar Allan Poe lived a life of many firsts. Poe is considered to be the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He was also the first notable American author to make his living through his writing, something that didn’t really go too well for him as he was always financially strapped. In 1849 he was found on the streets of Baltimore, delirious and in dire need of medical help. Poe died a few days later in hospital at 39 years of age.

Down
1. Say “I don’t” to instead of “I do”? : JILT
To jilt someone with whom you have a relationship is to drop them suddenly or callously. “Jilt” is an obsolete noun that used to mean “harlot” or “loose woman”.

2. Yemeni or Omani : ARAB
Yemen is located on the Arabian Peninsula, lying just south of Saudi Arabia and west of Oman. Yemen is the only state on the peninsula that is a republic (its official name is the Republic of Yemen). Everyone over the age of 18 gets to vote, but only Muslims can hold elected office. Yemen has seen many rebellions over the centuries, and has been suffering through a Shia uprising since February 2015.

Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula and is neighbored by the OAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Oman is a monarchy, and the official name of the state is the Sultanate of Oman. All of the country’s legislative, executive and judiciary power resides with the hereditary sultan.

3. Hail Mary, for one : PASS
A Hail Mary pass (also called “the long bomb”) is a desperation move in American football in which a long pass is thrown with very little chance of a success, right at the the end of a game or at the end of a half. The term dates back to thirties, and was probably first used at Notre Dame. The “Hail Mary” is a prayer in the Christian tradition that is of particular significance Roman Catholicism.

4. Enjoyed a buffet : ATE
Our word “buffet” comes from the French “bufet” meaning “bench, sideboard”. So, a buffet is a meal served from a “bufet”.

5. “Weapon” with foam darts : NERF GUN
Nerf is soft material used in a whole series of toys designed for “safe” play indoors. The Nerf product is used to make darts, balls and ammunition for toy guns. “NERF” is an acronym, standing for Non-Expanding Recreational Foam.

8. Tupperware top : LID
Back in the 1930s, Earl Tupper was working at the DuPont Chemical Company, and from DuPont obtained inflexible pieces of polyethylene slag. Tupper purified the slag and shaped it into unbreakable containers. He added airtight lids with a “burping seal”, which were provided tight seals similar to that provided by the lids on paint cans. He called his new product Tupperware.

10. Capital of Morocco : RABAT
Rabat is the capital city of the Kingdom of Morocco. After WWII, the United States maintained a major Air Force Base in Rabat, part of Strategic Air Command (SAC). Responding to pressure from the Moroccan government of King Mohammed V, the USAF pulled out in 1963.

12. U.S. city less than 150 miles from the International Date Line : NOME
Nome, Alaska has over 3,500 residents, the majority of whom are Native American. The next largest ethnic group in Nome is the white population. The origin of the name “Nome” isn’t well understood, it seems. One theory is that was a misunderstanding of the local Inupiaq word for the phrase “Where at?”

The International Date Line (IDL) is an imaginary line that runs north-south along the 180-degree line of longitude (with a few deviations). The IDL is located on the opposite side of the Earth to the Prime Meridian, which runs through Greenwich, England. A person flying non-stop around the world from east to west loses one hour each time he or she crosses a time zone. When that person arrives back at his or her starting point, she would have lost 24 hours in total, a full day. So, the traveller has to compensate by moving the calendar forward 24 hours, by adding a day. By convention, this change of date is made when crossing the IDL.

13. Belles of the ball : DEBS
“Deb” is short for “debutante”, which translates from French as “female beginner”.

26. Award refused by Marlon Brando and George C. Scott : OSCAR
Actor Marlon Brando really hit the big time with his Oscar-winning performance in the 1951 movie “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Brando went on to win another Best Actor Oscar for his performance in 1972’s “The Godfather”, which gave him the platform to establish himself as a political activist. He turned down the award and didn’t attend the ceremony. Instead he sent a Native American rights activist called Sacheen Littlefeather who made a speech protesting the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood movies. Brando wasn’t the first person to refuse an Oscar. George C. Scott did the same thing when he won for playing the title role in 1970’s “Patton”. Scott just didn’t like the whole idea of “competing” with other actors.

“Patton” is an excellent biographical movie about General George Patton and his exploits during WWII. The film was released in 1970 and starred George C. Scott in the title role. “Patton” won seven Oscars including Best Picture and one for Scott as Best Actor. Scott refused his award saying that he disliked “acting competitions”. In so doing, he became the first actor to refuse an Oscar.

27. Shorthand writer : STENO
Stenography is the process of writing in shorthand. The term comes from the Greek “steno” (narrow) and “graphe” (writing).

28. Part of a Happy Meal : FRIES
The McDonald’s Happy Meal was introduced in 1977. The Happy Meal was inspired by a selection of food designed in a Guatemalan McDonald’s to suit children that was called “Menu Ronald”. The toys in Happy Meals often tie-in with some movie and so are part of an advertising campaign.

29. Pat of “Wheel of Fortune” : SAJAK
Pat Sajak took over the hosting of “Wheel of Fortune” from Chuck Woolery back in 1983 and has been doing the job ever since. Sajak had a short run as a talk show host in 1989/1990 and used to sub quite often for Larry King and Regis Philbin.

44. Luke Perry or Jason Priestley, once : TV IDOL
Luke Perry is one of a long list of stars that made it big on the TV show “Beverly Hills 90210”. What is remarkable about Perry’s performances is that he joined the cast to play a 16-year-old (named Dylan McKay), while in real life Perry was in his mid-twenties!

45. ___ Bell (restaurant chain) : TACO
Taco Bell was founded by a former US Marine, 25-year-old Glen Bell. His first restaurant was Bell’s Drive-In, located in Southern California. After opening that first establishment, Bell bought up some more restaurants including four named El Taco. He sold off the El Taco restaurants but used the name in part when he opened his first Taco Bell in 1962. Bell sold then sold franchises, with the 100th Taco Bell opening in 1967. The ex-Marine sold off the whole chain to PepsiCo in 1978, and I am guessing he made a pretty penny. Taco Bell has been using the “Live Más” slogan since 2012, with “más” being the Spanish word for “more”.

46. ___ of Troy : HELEN
According to Greek mythology, Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. When Helen reached the age of marriage, she had many suitors as she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Menelaus was chosen as her husband, and he took her back to his home of Sparta. Paris, a Trojan prince, seduced Helen, as she eloped with him and travelled to Troy. This event sparked the Trojan War that waged between the city of Troy and Greece. Because of this war, Helen was said to have “the face that launched a thousand ships”. And because of this phrase, it has been suggested, probably by author Isaac Asimov, that the amount of beauty needed launch a single ship is one “millihelen”.

50. Rick’s love in “Casablanca” : ILSA
Ilsa Lund was played by Ingrid Bergman in the 1942 movie “Casablanca”. I love the words of one critic describing the chemistry between Bogart and Bergman in this film: “She paints his face with her eyes”. Wow …

53. Himalayas setting : ASIA
The magnificent Himalaya range of mountains in Asia takes its name from the Sanskrit for “abode of snow”. Geographically, the Himalayas separate the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau to the north.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Tokyo’s land : JAPAN
6. How Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic : SOLO
10. “Atlas Shrugged” author Ayn : RAND
14. Spitting bullets : IRATE
15. Minnesota baseballer : TWIN
16. Skin soother : ALOE
17. Air Force smart weapon : LASER-GUIDED BOMB
20. Atlanta-based cable channel : TBS
21. Cry after an errant golf shot : FORE!
22. Gives a grand speech : ORATES
23. Like good Scotch : AGED
24. Irritated state : SNIT
25. Pioneering high jump maneuver of the 1960s : FOSBURY FLOP
29. Not guzzle : SIP
32. Sean of “The Lord of the Rings” : ASTIN
33. “Apollo 13” director Howard : RON
34. Superboy’s love interest ___ Lang : LANA
35. ___ tea (summer drink) : ICED
36. Illegal payment : BRIBE
38. Slightly cracked, as a door : AJAR
39. Superman’s love interest Lois ___ : LANE
40. Fish eggs : ROE
41. Jack’s fairy tale foe : GIANT
42. Sign outside a sold-out show : SRO
43. Thanksgiving entree : ROAST TURKEY
46. Noggin : HEAD
47. Brewery containers : VATS
48. Captain America carries one : SHIELD
51. Wealthy : RICH
52. “Elvis ___ left the building” : HAS
55. 1956 Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis comedy : HOLLYWOOD OR BUST
58. Different : ELSE
59. With 41-Down, “Alice’s Restaurant” singer : ARLO …
60. Ancient region on the Aegean Sea : IONIA
61. One who might expel a student : DEAN
62. Say “HEY YOU!,” e.g. : YELL
63. Writer ___ Allan Poe : EDGAR

Down
1. Say “I don’t” to instead of “I do”? : JILT
2. Yemeni or Omani : ARAB
3. Hail Mary, for one : PASS
4. Enjoyed a buffet : ATE
5. “Weapon” with foam darts : NERF GUN
6. Solidly built : STURDY
7. Source of pain, in kidspeak : OWIE
8. Tupperware top : LID
9. Personal interview : ONE-ON-ONE
10. Capital of Morocco : RABAT
11. Oodles : A LOT
12. U.S. city less than 150 miles from the International Date Line : NOME
13. Belles of the ball : DEBS
18. Ending with church or movie : GOER
19. Result of a melting icicle : DRIP
23. Tolerate : ABIDE
24. Neatnik’s opposite : SLOB
25. Gets an F : FAILS
26. Award refused by Marlon Brando and George C. Scott : OSCAR
27. Shorthand writer : STENO
28. Part of a Happy Meal : FRIES
29. Pat of “Wheel of Fortune” : SAJAK
30. Asinine : INANE
31. Republicans or Democrats : PARTY
34. Dens : LAIRS
36. Theater district thoroughfare : BROADWAY
37. Appropriate word found in 36-Down : ROAD
41. See 59-Across : … GUTHRIE
43. Depend (on) : RELY
44. Luke Perry or Jason Priestley, once : TV IDOL
45. ___ Bell (restaurant chain) : TACO
46. ___ of Troy : HELEN
48. Lose, as fur : SHED
49. Problem with a sock : HOLE
50. Rick’s love in “Casablanca” : ILSA
51. Item in a restaurant basket : ROLL
52. Like a jury that can’t reach a decision : HUNG
53. Himalayas setting : ASIA
54. One of 50 on the U.S. flag : STAR
56. Mine car load : ORE
57. Physique, informally : BOD

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