0424-18 NY Times Crossword Answers 24 Apr 2018, Tuesday

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Constructed by: Peter Gordon
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: No Man Is an Island

Themed answers are MEN whose name includes AN ISLAND:

  • 55A. John Donne quote disproved by 17-, 25- and 43-Across? : NO MAN IS AN ISLAND
  • 17A. Author of “American Psycho” : BRET EASTON ELLIS (giving “Ellis Island”)
  • 25A. “Jerry Maguire” Oscar winner : CUBA GOODING, JR (giving “Cuba”)
  • 43A. Star of “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” : IDRIS ELBA (giving “Elba”)

Bill’s time: 5m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Johnny of “Chocolat” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” : DEPP

Johnny Depp got his big break as an actor on television, in the eighties television show “21 Jump Street”. Depp’s first film success came when he played the title role in 1990’s “Edward Scissorhands”. He has twice been named Sexiest Man Alive by “People” magazine.

The movie “Chocolat” released in 2000 is a big screen adaption of the novel of the same name by Joanne Harris. “Chocolat” tells the story of a young mother with a six-year-old daughter who opens up a chocolate shop in a French village. The mother is played by the talented Juliette Binoche.

Willy Wonka is the lead character in the 1964 novel by Roald Dahl called “Charlie & the Chocolate Factory”. Willy Wonka has been portrayed on the big screen twice. Gene Wilder was a fabulous Wonka in the 1971 version titled “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”, and Johnny Depp played him in the Tim Burton movie from 2005 called “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. I’m not too fond of Tim Burton movies, so I haven’t seen that one …

5. Pieces in the game Rummikub : TILES

Rummikub is a tile-based game that was created in the 1940s by Ephraim Hertzano in Israel. Hertzano’s game combines elements of mahjong with the card game rummy. Rummikub was the best-selling game in the US back in 1977.

15. “Fear of Flying” author Jong : ERICA

The author Erica Jong’s most famous work is her first: “Fear of Flying”, a novel published in 1973. Over twenty years later, Jong wrote “Fear of Fifty: a midlife memoir”, published in 1994.

16. Dubliner’s home : EIRE

The city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is known as “Baile Átha Cliath” in Irish (“town of the hurdled ford”). The English name “Dublin” is an anglicized form of the older Irish name for the city “Dubh Linn”, meaning “black pool”.

17. Author of “American Psycho” : BRET EASTON ELLIS (giving “Ellis Island”)

“American Psycho” is a comedy horror film released in 2000 that is based on a 1991 novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. I don’t do horror, comedy or not …

Ellis Island is an exclave of New York City that is geographically located within Jersey City, New Jersey. The name comes from a Samuel Ellis who owned the island around the time of the American Revolution. Ellis Island was the nation’s main immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954.

21. Polish seaport : GDANSK

Gdańsk is a port city on the Baltic coast of Poland and is the country’s biggest seaport. Gdańsk was where the European Solidarity movement was born, with Lech Wałęsa in the leadership position. Wałęsa was an electrician working in the Gdańsk shipyards.

24. Charlemagne’s domain: Abbr. : HRE

Charlemagne was the first king to use the title “Holy Roman Emperor”, even though the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) was not actually founded until over a century later when Otto I was crowned Emperor. Otto was the first of an unbroken line of Holy Roman Emperors who ruled Central Europe from 962 until 1806.

25. “Jerry Maguire” Oscar winner : CUBA GOODING, JR (giving “Cuba”)

Jerry Maguire is a 1996 film starring Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Renée Zellweger. The title character is played by Cruise, and is a sports agent. There are several lines oft quoted from “Jerry Maguire” including:

  • “Show me the money!”
  • “You complete me”
  • “You had me at ‘hello’”

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean. The exact etymology of the name “Cuba” seems a little unclear. Most believe “Cuba” to be derived from the Taíno terms for “where fertile land is abundant” (cubao) or “great place” (coabana).

32. Teri with a big “Tootsie” role : GARR

The lovely Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffers from multiple sclerosis. She is a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

“Tootsie” is a hilarious 1982 comedy starring Dustin Hoffman in the title role, a male actor who adopts a female identity in order to land an acting job. Jessica Lange won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the film. “Tootsie” was also provided Geena Davis with her first movie role.

33. Company with numbered sheep plush toys : SERTA

Serta was founded in 1931 when a group of 13 mattress manufacturers came together, essentially forming a cooperative. Today, the Serta company is owned by eight independent licensees in a similar arrangement. Serta advertisements feature the Serta Counting Sheep. Each numbered sheep has a different personality, such as:

  • #1 The Leader of the Flock
  • #½ The Tweener
  • #13 Mr. Bad Luck
  • #53 The Pessimist
  • #86 Benedict Arnold

34. Southernmost team in the American League : RAYS

The Tampa Bay Rays are a relatively young franchise, having been formed in 1998. The initial name of the franchise was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. While known as the Devil Rays, the team finished last in the league in almost every year. The name was changed to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, and I am told the Rays started into a streak of winning seasons soon after.

36. Eldest of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” : OLGA

Olga, Masha and Irina are the “Three Sisters” in the play by Anton Chekhov. The three title characters were inspired by the three Brontë sisters, the English authors.

38. Furniture superstore : IKEA

The IKEA furniture stores use the colors blue and yellow for brand recognition. Blue and yellow are the national colors of Sweden, where IKEA was founded and is headquartered.

42. Piquancy : ZEST

Something that is piquant is pleasantly sharp in taste and zesty. “Piquant” is the French word for “prickly”.

43. Star of “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” : IDRIS ELBA (giving “Elba”)

The English actor Idris Elba is probably best known in North America for playing the drug lord Stringer Bell in the marvelous HBO drama series “The Wire”, and the title character in the 2013 film “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”. Off the screen, Elba occasionally appears as a disk jockey using the name DJ Big Driis.

“Long Walk to Freedom” is a 1994 autobiography by the revolutionary and eventual statesman Nelson Mandela. The book was adapted into a very successful film entitled “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”, with English actor Idris Elba in the title role. The movie was released in South Africa at the end of November 2013, and Nelson Mandela passed away just a few days later.

49. Machine that produces power : TURBINE

A turbine is a machine uses the flow of a fluid (sometimes air) to create rotational work. Simple examples of turbines are windmills and waterwheels.

53. Patti Page song that begins “It was winter when you told me you were leaving” : I CRIED

“Patti Page” is the stage name of Clara Ann Fowler, the best-selling female artist in the 1950s. Patti Page’s signature song is “Tennessee Waltz”, a big hit for her that spent 13 weeks at number one in the charts in 1950. She also had a number one with “(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window” in 1953.

55. John Donne quote disproved by 17-, 25- and 43-Across? : NO MAN IS AN ISLAND

John Donne wrote a piece of prose called “Devotions upon Emergent Occasions”. One passage contains two phrases that are oft-quoted: “No man is an island”, and “for whom the bell tolls”.

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

59. Ever’s partner : ANON

“Ever and anon” means “now and then”.

60. Mortise’s partner : TENON

One simple type of joint used in carpentry is a mortise and tenon. It is basically a projection carved at the end of one piece of wood that fits into a hole cut into the end of another. In the related dovetail joint, the projecting tenon is not rectangular but is cut at a bias, so that when the dovetails are joined they resist being pulled apart. You’ll see dovetail joints in drawers around the house.

61. 13th-anniversary gift : LACE

Some traditional gifts for wedding anniversaries are:

  • 5th: wood
  • 10th: tin
  • 15th: crystal
  • 20th: china
  • 25th: silver
  • 30th: pearl
  • 40th: ruby
  • 50th: gold
  • 60th: diamond
  • Down

    1. Brylcreem amounts : DABS

    The original Brylcreem product was a pomade introduced in England in 1928. When it first appeared in a television advertisement it was touted with a jingle that started out:

    Bryl-creem, a little dab’ll do ya,
    Use more, only if you dare,
    But watch out,
    The gals will all pursue ya,–
    They’ll love to put their fingers through your hair.

    2. Stationery color : ECRU

    The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.

    “Stationery” is a noun describing writing materials and office supplies, items that are sold by a stationer. Centuries ago, a stationer was someone who sold goods from a shop or a “station”, from a fixed, “stationary” stall.

    4. Sessions of Congress : PETE

    Pete Sessions is a Republican member of the US House of Representatives from Texas. Pete is the son of former FBI director William S. Sessions.

    6. Form letters? : IRS

    Here in the US we can choose one of three main forms to file our tax returns. Form 1040 is known as the “long form”. Form 1040A is called the “short form”, and can be used by taxpayers with taxable income below $100,000 who don’t itemize deduction. Form 1040EZ is an even simpler version of the 1040, and can be used by those with taxable income less than $100,000 who take the standard deduction and who also have no dependents. Form 1040 was originally created just for tax returns from 1913, 1914 and 1915, but it’s a form that just keeps on giving, or should I say “taking” …?

    9. Drink made with red wine and fruit : SANGRIA

    Sangria is red wine punch, usually associated with Portugal and Spain. Recipes for sangria vary, but almost all include a robust red wine, sliced fruit, something sweet (e.g. orange juice, sugar), a spirit (e.g. brandy, triple sec), carbonated water or perhaps 7up, and ice. The drink is named for its color, as “sangre” is the Spanish for blood.

    10. Emmy winner Ward : SELA

    The actress Sela Ward turns up in crosswords a lot. Ward played Teddy Reed in the TV show “Sisters” in the nineties, and was in “Once and Again” from 1999-2002. I don’t know either show, but I do know Ward from the medical drama “House” in which she played the hospital’s lawyer and Greg House’s ex-partner. That was a fun role, I thought. More recently Ward played a lead role on “CSI: NY” and was a very welcome and much-needed addition to the cast …

    12. Apt name for an ophthalmologist : IRIS

    The iris is the colored part of the eye. It has an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.

    13. Rolltop, e.g. : DESK

    A rolltop desk is one with a sliding cover made of wooden slats. The slat mechanism is also known as a “tambour”.

    18. Humor columnist Bombeck : ERMA

    Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years, producing more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns describing her home life in suburbia.

    25. Colombian city that hosted the 1971 Pan American Games : CALI

    In terms of population, Cali is the third largest city in Colombia (after Bogotá and Medellin). Santiago de Cali (the full name for the city) lies in western Colombia. Apparently, Cali is a destination for “medical tourists”. The city’s surgeons have a reputation for being expert in cosmetic surgery and so folks head there looking for a “cheap” nose job. Cali has also been historically associated with the illegal drug trade and money laundering.

    The Pan American Games are held every four years, the year just before the Summer Olympic Games. The participating athletes all come from the Americas.

    27. Largest group of Portuguese speakers : BRAZILIANS

    Brazil is the largest country in South America, and the fifth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada, China and the US). Brazil was a Portuguese colony from 1500 to 1815. The official name of the country under Portuguese rule was Terra da Santa Cruz (Land of the Holy Cross). However, European sailors used the name Terra do Brasil (Land of Brazil), a reference to the brazilwood tree that was much prized in Europe for the deep red dye that it produced.

    29. “Memory” singer in “Cats” : GRIZABELLA

    Grizabella is a character in T. S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”. In the musical ”Cats” that is adapted from the book, Grizabella is the character who sings the show-stopping song “Memory”.

    30. Hunky-dory : JAKE

    Both “jake” and “dandy” are slang words meaning “fine”, as in “things are just dandy”.

    Surprisingly (to me), the term “hunky-dory” has been around a long time, and is documented back in the mid-1800s. Nobody’s really sure of its origin, but some say it is an Anglicization of Honcho dori, that back in the day was a street of ill repute in Yokohama, Japan.

    32. One of two words added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 : GOD

    The Pledge of Allegiance of the US was composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and was adopted by Congress in 1942. The actual words used in the pledge have changed over time. Here is the original 1892 version shown in comparison to the current version that was adopted in 1954:

    1892: I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

    1954: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

    35. Wasn’t a straphanger : SAT

    “Straphanger” is a slang term for someone who rides the subway or a bus, i.e. stands in the vehicle hanging onto a strap for balance.

    44. Paula who wrote “It Ain’t All About the Cookin'” : DEEN

    Paula Deen is a celebrity chef from Savannah, Georgia who is noted for her Southern cooking. Deen has been criticized for the amount of salt, fat and sugar in her recipes. The criticism became even more intense when Deen disclosed that she herself has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

    46. Egyptian peninsula : SINAI

    The Sinai Peninsula is in the eastern part of Egypt, and is a triangular peninsula bounded by the Mediterranean to the north and the Red Sea to the south. It is the only part of Egypt that lies in Asia as opposed to Africa. The eastern land border of the peninsula is shared with Israel, and Israel occupied the Sinai during the 1956 Suez Crisis and the Six Day War of 1967.

    50. Fashion designer Mizrahi : ISAAC

    Isaac Mizrahi is a fashion designer from Brooklyn, New York.

    51. Time being : NONCE

    The quaint phrase “for the nonce” means “for the present, for now”.

    57. Santa ___, Calif. : ANA

    Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County, California and takes its name from the Santa Ana River that runs through the city.

    Complete List of Clues/Answers

    Across

    1. Johnny of “Chocolat” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” : DEPP
    5. Pieces in the game Rummikub : TILES
    10. Lose control on ice, say : SKID
    14. Unit for surveyors : ACRE
    15. “Fear of Flying” author Jong : ERICA
    16. Dubliner’s home : EIRE
    17. Author of “American Psycho” : BRET EASTON ELLIS (giving “Ellis Island”)
    20. Magnificent : SUPERB
    21. Polish seaport : GDANSK
    22. Yoga surface : MAT
    24. Charlemagne’s domain: Abbr. : HRE
    25. “Jerry Maguire” Oscar winner : CUBA GOODING, JR (giving “Cuba”)
    32. Teri with a big “Tootsie” role : GARR
    33. Company with numbered sheep plush toys : SERTA
    34. Southernmost team in the American League : RAYS
    36. Eldest of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” : OLGA
    37. The year 205 : CCV
    38. Furniture superstore : IKEA
    39. Dos x 5 : DIEZ
    40. Bracelet fastener : CLASP
    42. Piquancy : ZEST
    43. Star of “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” : IDRIS ELBA (giving “Elba”)
    46. Approach furtively, with “to” : SIDLE UP
    49. Machine that produces power : TURBINE
    53. Patti Page song that begins “It was winter when you told me you were leaving” : I CRIED
    54. Continues : GOES ON
    55. John Donne quote disproved by 17-, 25- and 43-Across? : NO MAN IS AN ISLAND
    59. Ever’s partner : ANON
    60. Mortise’s partner : TENON
    61. 13th-anniversary gift : LACE
    62. Belief systems : ISMS
    63. What birthday cake candles represent : YEARS
    64. Passed with flying colors : ACED

    Down

    1. Brylcreem amounts : DABS
    2. Stationery color : ECRU
    3. Ready for surgery : PREP
    4. Sessions of Congress : PETE
    5. They’re likely to get into hot water : TEA BAGS
    6. Form letters? : IRS
    7. Hammered : LIT
    8. Green: Prefix : ECO-
    9. Drink made with red wine and fruit : SANGRIA
    10. Emmy winner Ward : SELA
    11. Oven for pottery : KILN
    12. Apt name for an ophthalmologist : IRIS
    13. Rolltop, e.g. : DESK
    18. Humor columnist Bombeck : ERMA
    19. Genesis garden : EDEN
    23. Pedal attachment on a racing bike : TOE CLIP
    24. Modern hotel room item : HDTV SET
    25. Colombian city that hosted the 1971 Pan American Games : CALI
    26. Impulse : URGE
    27. Largest group of Portuguese speakers : BRAZILIANS
    28. Menaces of the deep : ORCAS
    29. “Memory” singer in “Cats” : GRIZABELLA
    30. Hunky-dory : JAKE
    31. Deli loaves : RYES
    32. One of two words added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 : GOD
    35. Wasn’t a straphanger : SAT
    40. Primitiveness : CRUDITY
    41. Software add-ons that offer extra features : PLUGINS
    44. Paula who wrote “It Ain’t All About the Cookin'” : DEEN
    45. Some sibs : BROS
    46. Egyptian peninsula : SINAI
    47. Mao and Xi, in China : ICONS
    48. She might check for a fever with her hand : DR MOM
    50. Fashion designer Mizrahi : ISAAC
    51. Time being : NONCE
    52. Over and done : ENDED
    56. Visualize : SEE
    57. Santa ___, Calif. : ANA
    58. Negative conjunction : NOR