0411-16 New York Times Crossword 11 Apr 16, Monday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Ron Toth & Zhouqin Burnikel
THEME: Pockets … each of today’s themed answers is something featuring POCKETS:

53A. Keeps for oneself … or features of the answers to all the starred clues POCKETS

1A. *With 9-Across, loose-fitting bottoms CARGO
9A. *See 1-Across PANTS
24A. *Where you can hear a pin drop BOWLING LANE
31D. *Where you might be behind the eight ball POOL TABLE
34D. *Falafel holder PITA BREAD

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 50s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

6. Mini-albums, briefly EPS
An extended play record (EP) contains more music than a single, but less than an LP.

16. Legend automaker ACURA
The Acura Legend model of car was sold as the Honda Legend over in Japan.

18. Grade of wine CRU
“Cru” is a term used in the French wine industry that means “growth place”. So, “cru” is the name of the location where the grapes are grown, as opposed to the name of a specific vineyard. The terms “premier cru” and “grand cru” are also used, but the usage depends on the specific wine region. Generally it is a classification awarded to specific vineyards denoting their potential for producing great wines. “Grand cru” is reserved for the very best vineyards, with “premier cru” the level just below.

19. Who thought of “The Thinker” RODIN
Rodin’s famous sculpture known as “The Thinker” has been reproduced many times. Rodin’s original version of “The Thinker” is actually a detail in a much larger work known as “The Gates of Hell”. The original plaster version of “The Gates of Hell” can be seen at the magnificent Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

20. ___ Sabe (the Lone Ranger, to Tonto) KEMO
“Kemosabe” is a term used by the Tonto character in the iconic radio and television program “The Lone Ranger”. “Kemosabe” doesn’t really mean anything outside of the show, and in fact was written as “ke-mo sah-bee” in the original radio show scripts. The term was created by longtime director of “The Lone Ranger”, Jim Jewell. To come up with the term, Jewell used the name of a boy’s camp that his father-in-law established called Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee.

24. *Where you can hear a pin drop BOWLING LANE
In ten-pin bowling, the “strike pocket” for a right-handed bowler is between the 1- and 3-pins.

28. Emulates Jay Z RAPS
Jay Z, as well as being a successful and very rich rap artist, is married to singer Beyonce.

29. Small recipe amt. TSP
Teaspoon (tsp.)

32. Unfiltered and unpasteurized brew REAL ALE
“Real Ale” is a relatively contemporary term. It has been used in the UK since 1973 to refer to beer that has been brewed traditionally, and that does not use extraneous carbonation. I really, really like real ale …

34. Grp. holding after-school events PTA
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

37. Island ring ATOLL
An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring and enclosing a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside internal to the circling coral reef.

39. Guacamole or salsa DIP
Guacamole is one of my favorite dishes, and is made by mashing avocados and perhaps adding the likes of tomato, onion and lime juice. The guacamole recipe dates back as early as the 16th century, to the time of the Aztecs. “Guacamole” translates as “avocado sauce”.

“Salsa” is simply Spanish for “sauce”.

45. Versailles and others PALACES
Versailles is a city located just 10 miles from the center of Paris. It is famous of course as home to the magnificent Palace of Versailles. The palace started out as a hunting lodge built in the village of Versailles in 1624, built for Louis XIII. Louis XIII extended the lodge into a full-blown château, but it was Louis XIV who expanded it into one of the largest palaces on the planet. Louis XIV moved the royal court from Paris to Versailles starting in 1678.

47. Vacationers to Vail may carry them SKI BAGS
The Vail Ski Resort in Colorado is the largest single-mountain ski resort in the whole country. The resort was opened in 1962, basically in the middle of nowhere. It was given the name Vail after Vail Pass which runs by the mountain (now also called Vail Mountain). The town of Vail, Colorado was established four years later in 1966, and now has a population of about 5,000.

50. Run up ___ (owe) A TAB
When we “run a tab” at a bar say, we are “running a tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.

51. Maidenform product BRA
Maidenform is a manufacturer of underwear for women that was founded in 1922. The three co-founders were driven to defy the norms of the day that dictated a flat-chested look for women. They produced items that fit the female body, hence the name “Maidenform”.

62. “Kiss me, I’m ___” (T-shirt slogan) IRISH
Apparently the phrase “kiss me, I’m Irish” is a reference to the Blarney Stone. If you can’t kiss the Blarney Stone yourself, then the next-best thing is to kiss an Irishman.

Blarney is a town in County Cork in the south of Ireland. Blarney is home to Blarney Castle, and inside the castle is the legendary Blarney Stone. “Kissing the Blarney Stone” is a ritual engaged in by oh so many tourists (indeed, I’ve done it myself!), but it’s not a simple process. The stone is embedded in the wall of the castle, and in order to kiss it you have to sit on the edge of the parapet and lean way backwards so that your head is some two feet below your body. There is a staff member there to help you and make sure you don’t fall. The Blarney Stone has been labelled as the world’s most unhygienic tourist attraction! But once you’ve kissed it, supposedly you are endowed with the “gift of the gab”, the ability to talk eloquently and perhaps deceptively without offending. Sure, I wouldn’t know …

63. Jay who preceded Jimmy Fallon LENO
Jay Leno was born James Leno in New Rochelle, New York. Jay’s father was the son of Italian immigrants, and his mother was from Scotland. Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts and actually dropped out of school on the advice of a high school guidance counsellor. However, years later he went to Emerson college and earned a Bachelor’s degree in speech therapy. Leno also started a comedy club at Emerson in 1973. Today Jay Leno is a car nut and owns about 200 vehicles of various types. You can check them out on his website: www.jaylenosgarage.com.

Jimmy Fallon was a cast member for a number of years on “Saturday Night Live” before getting his own talk show in 2009, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”. Fallon took over “The Tonight Show” from Jay Leno in 2014.

66. The “O’s” of Cheerios OATS
Cheerios breakfast cereal has the distinction of being the first oat-based cereal introduced into the market, hitting the grocery store shelves in 1941. Back then, “Cheerios” were known as CheeriOats.

69. Poetic paeans ODES
A paean is a poem or song that expresses triumph or thanksgiving. “Paean” comes from the ancient Greek “paian” meaning “song of triumph”.

Down
1. Poe’s “The ___ of Amontillado” CASK
“The Cask of Amontillado” is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe that was first published in 1846. The story tells of a vengeful man who lures his enemy into the catacombs, locks him in chains and then traps him in a niche by sealing it with a brick wall. Nice man …

3. Diamond shape RHOMB
“Rhomb” is an alternative name for a rhombus, a 4-sided figure with sides of equal length, but angles at the corners that aren’t right angles. So, that would make a rhombus a “diamond” shape.

6. Stuffed tortillas ENCHILADAS
“Enchilada” is the past participle of the Spanish word “enchilar” meaning “to add chili pepper to”. An enchilada is a basically a corn tortilla rolled around some filling and then covered in chili pepper sauce. The term “big enchilada” is used in the same way as we would use “big cheese” i.e. the top dog. The phrase was popularized in the sixties when John Ehrlichman referred to Attorney General John Mitchell as “the big enchilada” on one of the Watergate Tapes.

7. Evita of “Evita” PERON
Nowadays, President Juan Peron of Argentina is less well-remembered than his wife Eva Peron, of “Evita” fame. Juan and Evita Peron founded the Justicialist Party in 1947, and it still exists today.

8. Reaction from a sore loser SOUR GRAPES
Our expression “sour grapes” is an allusion to one of Aesop’s fables, the story of “The Fox and the Grapes”. In the fable, a squirrel could climb up to grapes high in a tree that a fox was unsuccessful in getting to. On seeing this the fox said, “It’s okay, the grapes were sour anyway”.

22. Carrier to the Holy Land EL AL
El Al Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of Israel. The term “el al” translates from Hebrew as “to the skies”.

26. Hairy Halloween rentals APE SUITS
All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows Eve, better known by the Scottish term, “Halloween”.

29. Drive (down) TAMP
“Tamp” means to pack down tightly by tapping. “Tamp” was originally used to specifically describe the action of packing down sand or dirt around an explosive prior to detonation.

30. Athenian colonnade STOA
A stoa was a covered walkway in Ancient Greece. A stoa usually consisted of columns lining the side of a building or buildings, with another row of columns defining the other side of the walkway. The columns supported a roof. Often stoae would surround marketplaces in large cities.

34. *Falafel holder PITA BREAD
Falafel is a ball of ground chickpeas or fava beans that has been deep fried and served in pita bread. I love chickpeas, but falafel just tastes too dry to me …

36. “___ fair in love and war” ALL’S
The proverb “All is fair in love and war” has been attributed to the English writer John Lyly, and is from his book “Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit”. “Euphues” is also the source of our word “euphemism”.

38. Wife of Jacob LEAH
According to the Bible, Leah was one of the two wives of Jacob, the other being Leah’s sister Rachel. Jacob’s intention had been to marry Rachel, but the Leah and Rachel’s father “switched” his daughters and provided Leah as the veiled bride. Jacob married Rachel a week later, and lived with the two wives concurrently.

41. Lady hoopsters’ org. WNBA
Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)

46. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 EROICA
Beethoven originally dedicated his Symphony No. 3 to Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven admired the principles of the French Revolution and as such respected Bonaparte who was “born” out of the uprising. When Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven (and much of Europe) saw this as a betrayal to the ideals of the revolution so he changed the name of his new symphony from “Bonaparte” to “Eroica”, meaning “heroic” or “valiant”.

48. ___ Lee Gifford (morning TV host) KATHIE
Kathie Lee Gifford is most famous for working alongside Regis Philbin on the talk show “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee”, a stint that lasted for about 15 years.

52. Prego competitor RAGU
The Ragú brand of pasta sauce is owned by Unilever. The name ” Ragù” is the Italian word for a sauce used to dress pasta, however the spelling is off a little. In Italian the word is “Ragù” with a grave accent over the “u”, but if you look at a jar of the sauce on the supermarket shelf it is spelled “Ragú” on the label, with an acute accent. Sometimes I think we just don’t try …

The Prego brand of pasta sauce is owned by the Campbell Soup Company. It is actually based on the family recipe of one of the company’s chefs. “Prego” literally means “I pray” in Italian, but it translates in English best as “you’re welcome” when it is used after a “thank you” (“grazie”, in Italian).

54. Stick in one’s ___ CRAW
“Craw” is another name for the “crop”, a portion of the alimentary tract of some animals, including birds. The crop is used for the storage of food prior to digestion. The crop allows the animal to eat large amounts and then digest that food with efficiency over an extended period. The expression “to stick in one’s craw” is used one when one cannot accept something, cannot “swallow” it.

55. Double-decker checker KING
In the game of checkers, when a “man” reaches the other side of the board, it is promoted to “king”.

56. Villa d’___ ESTE
The Villa d’Este is a beautiful Renaissance villa situated close to Tivoli near Rome, Italy.

61. Hip-hop’s ___ tha Kyd SYD
Syd, or Syd tha Kyd, is the stage name of rapper Sydney Loren Bennett. I know nothing …

63. Place to go in Britain? LOO
It has been suggested that the British term “loo” comes from Waterloo (water-closet … water-loo), but no one seems to know for sure. Another suggestion is that the term comes from the card game of “lanterloo” in which the pot was called the loo!

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. *With 9-Across, loose-fitting bottoms CARGO
6. Mini-albums, briefly EPS
9. *See 1-Across PANTS
14. Hate ABHOR
15. Prefix with liberal or conservative NEO-
16. Legend automaker ACURA
17. Incline SLOPE
18. Grade of wine CRU
19. Who thought of “The Thinker” RODIN
20. ___ Sabe (the Lone Ranger, to Tonto) KEMO
21. Tedious task CHORE
23. Ready for picking RIPE
24. *Where you can hear a pin drop BOWLING LANE
27. Kind of tip, in baseball FOUL
28. Emulates Jay Z RAPS
29. Small recipe amt. TSP
32. Unfiltered and unpasteurized brew REAL ALE
34. Grp. holding after-school events PTA
37. Island ring ATOLL
39. Guacamole or salsa DIP
40. Soft-serve ice cream shape SWIRL
42. Sounded like a cow MOOED
43. Corroded ATE
44. Up to the point that UNTIL
45. Versailles and others PALACES
47. Vacationers to Vail may carry them SKI BAGS
49. Wed. follower THUR
50. Run up ___ (owe) A TAB
51. Maidenform product BRA
53. Keeps for oneself … or features of the answers to all the starred clues POCKETS
57. Snitch (on) RAT
60. Features of biology classes LABS
62. “Kiss me, I’m ___” (T-shirt slogan) IRISH
63. Jay who preceded Jimmy Fallon LENO
64. Hideous UGLY
65. “Won’t you let me?” CAN’T I?
66. The “O’s” of Cheerios OATS
67. Deeply regretted RUED
68. “Oh, shucks!” AW GEE!
69. Poetic paeans ODES

Down
1. Poe’s “The ___ of Amontillado” CASK
2. Having what it takes ABLE
3. Diamond shape RHOMB
4. Magically vanish GO POOF
5. It might be found in a deposit ORE
6. Stuffed tortillas ENCHILADAS
7. Evita of “Evita” PERON
8. Reaction from a sore loser SOUR GRAPES
9. 4, maybe, on a golf hole PAR
10. Nuts from oaks ACORNS
11. Skin flick NUDIE
12. Stumble TRIP
13. Rational SANE
21. One of 77 in this puzzle CLUE
22. Carrier to the Holy Land EL AL
25. Quadrennial soccer event WORLD CUP
26. Hairy Halloween rentals APE SUITS
29. Drive (down) TAMP
30. Athenian colonnade STOA
31. *Where you might be behind the eight ball POOL TABLE
33. Illuminated LIT
34. *Falafel holder PITA BREAD
35. Pre-calc course TRIG
36. “___ fair in love and war” ALL’S
38. Wife of Jacob LEAH
41. Lady hoopsters’ org. WNBA
46. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 EROICA
48. ___ Lee Gifford (morning TV host) KATHIE
51. Image of a speeding car, maybe BLUR
52. Prego competitor RAGU
54. Stick in one’s ___ CRAW
55. Double-decker checker KING
56. Villa d’___ ESTE
58. Get into a poker game, say ANTE
59. Something to do to a salad or coin TOSS
61. Hip-hop’s ___ tha Kyd SYD
63. Place to go in Britain? LOO

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