0513-19 NY Times Crossword 13 May 19, Monday

Constructed by: Gary Larson
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: Diamond Jim Brady

Themed answers are famous people, the names of whom start with a term used in baseball:

  • 39 Early railroad tycoon whose nickname is a hint to the starts of 17-, 23-, 51- and 62-Across : DIAMOND JIM BRADY (giving “diamond”)
  • 17A “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” novelist : DH LAWRENCE (giving “DH”)
  • 23 Bart and Lisa’s dad : HOMER SIMPSON (giving “homer”)
  • 51 Real-life lawman who lent his name to a 1950s-’60s TV western : BAT MASTERSON (giving “bat”)
  • 62 Utah senator who once ran for president : MITT ROMNEY (giving “mitt”)

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 5m 12s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15 How café may be served : AU LAIT

“Café au lait” (coffee with milk) is usually strong drip coffee to which one adds steamed milk. Well, that’s the way we tend to make in this country.

17 “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” novelist : DH LAWRENCE (giving “DH”)

D. H. Lawrence was very much a reactionary novelist, in the sense that his work tended to decry the social impact of the industrial revolution. His novels were also criticized for their erotic content, so much so that Lawrence was publicly labelled as a pornographer by the end of his days. His most famous novels are “Sons and Lovers”, “The Rainbow”, “Women in Love” and “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”.

“Lady Chatterley’s Lover” is perhaps the most famous novel by the English author D. H. Lawrence. The novel is renowned for its explicit description of sexual encounters and its use of strong language. “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” was first published in 1928, but so “edgy” was the content that the first unexpurgated edition wasn’t published in the UK until 1960.

Baseball’s American League (AL) allows a designated hitter (DH) in each team’s lineup, whereas the National League (NL) does not.

23 Bart and Lisa’s dad : HOMER SIMPSON (giving “homer”)

“The Simpsons” is one of the most successful programs produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer Simpson’s catchphrase is “D’oh!”, which became such a famous exclamation that it has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) since 2001. “D’oh!” can be translated as “I should have thought of that!”

27 King Arthur’s home : CAMELOT

Camelot is featured in Arthurian legend. “Camelot” is the name of King Arthur’s castle and his court.

31 Flamenco cheer : OLE!

Flamenco is a style of Spanish music and dance. The origin of the word “flamenco” isn’t clearly understood, but the explanation that seems most credible to me is that it comes from Flanders in Northern Europe. Given that “flamenco” is the Spanish word for “Flemish” and Flanders is home to the Flemish people it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

32 Blow, as a volcano : ERUPT

Our word “volcano” comes from “Vulcano”, the name of a volcanic island off the coast of Italy. The island’s name comes from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. The Romans believed that the island of Vulcano was the chimney of the forge belonging to the god Vulcan. The Romans also believed that the eruptions on Mount Etna in Sicily were caused by Vulcan getting angry and working his forge so hard that sparks and smoke flew out of the top of the volcano.

35 Newspaper opinion piece : OP-ED

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

39 Early railroad tycoon whose nickname is a hint to the starts of 17-, 23-, 51- and 62-Across : DIAMOND JIM BRADY (giving “diamond”)

“The Gilded Age” was a phrase coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in a book they wrote together. It describes the period of growth in the economy and the population following the Civil War. One of the men to profit during this time of expansion was Diamond Jim Brady. Brady started out as a bellboy and messenger, but at a young age made his fortune. He was known for having a big appetite for jewels (hence the moniker “Diamond Jim”), as well as a huge appetite for food. One restaurateur described him as “the best 25 customers I ever had”.

43 James of jazz : ETTA

“Etta James” was the stage name of celebrated blues and soul singer Jamesetta Hawkins. James’ most famous recording was her 1960 hit “At Last”, which made it into the pop charts. James performed “At Last” at the age of 71 in 2009 on the reality show “Dancing with the Stars”, which was to be her final television appearance. She passed away in 2012.

44 Lauder of cosmetics : ESTEE

Estée Lauder was a very successful businesswoman, and someone with a great reputation as a salesperson. Lauder introduced her own line of fragrances in 1953, a bath oil called “Youth Dew”. “Youth Dew” was marketed as a perfume, but it was added to bathwater. All of a sudden women were pouring whole bottles of Ms. Lauder’s “perfume” into their baths while using only a drop or two of French perfumes behind their ears. That’s quite a difference in sales volume …

51 Real-life lawman who lent his name to a 1950s-’60s TV western : BAT MASTERSON (giving “bat”)

Bat Masterson was a famous character in the Old West. In the latter part of his varied career, Masterson was a gunfighter and sheriff in Dodge City, before moving to New York City and working as a reporter and columnist. He also became good friends with President Theodore Roosevelt. There was a successful TV series titled “Bat Masterson” that aired in the late fifties and early sixties. Loosely based on Masterson’s life, the title role was played by Gene Barry.

62 Utah senator who once ran for president : MITT ROMNEY (giving “mitt”)

Mitt Romney was born Willard Mitt Romney in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. Romney’s parents named him after J. Willard Marriott (the hotel magnate) who was the father’s best friend, and after Milton “Mitt” Romney who was the father’s cousin and quarterback for the Chicago Bears.

66 “Star Trek: T.N.G.” counselor : TROI

Deanna Troi is a character on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” who is played by the lovely Marina Sirtis. Sirtis is a naturalized American citizen and has what I would call a soft American accent on the show. However, she was born in the East End of London and has a natural accent off-stage that is more like that of a true Cockney.

68 Noah’s vessel : ARK

The term “ark”, when used with reference to Noah, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tebah”. The word “tebah” is also used in the Bible for the basket in which Moses was placed by his mother when she floated him down the Nile. It seems that the word “tebah” doesn’t mean “boat” and nor does it mean “basket”. Rather, a more appropriate translation is “life-preserver” or “life-saver”. So, Noah’s ark was Noah’s life-preserver during the flood.

69 Europe’s highest volcano : ETNA

Mount Etna on the island of Sicily is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy, and indeed the largest of all active volcano in Europe. Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-gauge railway, and two ski resorts. It is sometimes referred to as “Mongibello” in Italian, and as “Mungibeddu” in Sicilian. The English name “Etna” comes from the Greek “aitho” meaning “I eat”.

71 “The Bells” poet : POE

Edgar Allan Poe (EAP) 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

5 Ben-___ (Charlton Heston role) : HUR

The 2016 epic “Ben-Hur” is an adaptation of the Lew Wallace novel of the same name, rather than a remake of the celebrated 1959 Charlton Heston vehicle. English actor Jack Huston has the title role in the 2016 film, which really bombed at the box office.

As well as having a fine career as an actor, Charlton Heston was a noted political activist. In the fifties he was very much a progressive and left-leaning in his political views. He was one of few in Hollywood to speak out against racism and support the Civil Rights Movement. Later in his life Heston became more associated with the conservative right, and was president of the National Rifle Association.

7 Time off, informally : R AND R

Rest and relaxation/recuperation/recreation (R&R, “R‘n’R”)

9 Sugar substitute : STEVIA

Stevia is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute. It is extracted from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana, a plant in the sunflower family that is native to Brazil and Paraguay. The active compounds in Stevia are many times more sweet than sugar, but are not metabolized by the body. As such, stevia has zero calories.

11 Actor Claude of old TV : AKINS

Claude Akins was an actor from Nelson, Georgia. Although Akins acted in many Hollywood films, he is best remembered for playing Sheriff Lobo in the seventies TV show “B. J. and the Bear”.

12 Classic brand of candy wafers : NECCO

Necco Wafers were the best-known product line of the candy manufacturer called the New England Confectionery Company. The firm’s name was abbreviated to “NECCO”, an acronym that became synonymous with the wafers.

13 German industrial city : ESSEN

Essen is a large industrial city located on the River Ruhr in western Germany. The city experienced major population growth in the mid-1800s that was driven by the iron works established by the Krupp family.

18 Arthur of tennis fame : ASHE

The great American tennis player Arthur Ashe spent the last years of his life writing his memoir called “Days of Grace”. He finished the manuscript just a few days before he passed away, dying from AIDS caused by a tainted blood transfusion.

22 Gchats, e.g. : IMS

Even though instant messaging (sending and receiving IMs) has been around since the 1960s, it was AOL who popularized the term “instant message” in the eighties and nineties. The “AOL Instant Message” service was known as AIM.

“Gchat” was a name commonly used for the Google Talk instant messaging (IM) service. Google Talk offered both text and voice communication as well as a plugin that allowed video chat. All of this functionality was replaced with the Google Hangouts service, and more recently with Google Duo.

24 Bread spread : OLEO

Emperor Louis Napoleon III of France announced a competition to develop a substitute for butter, a substitute that would be more accessible to the lower classes and more practical for the armed forces. A French chemist called Hippolyte Mege-Mouries came up with something he called oleomargarine in 1869, which was eventually manufactured under the trade name “margarine”. The name “oleomargarine” also gives us our generic term “oleo”.

26 Practice piece for a pianist : ETUDE

An étude is a short instrumental composition that is usually quite hard to play and is intended to help the performer master a particular technique. “Étude” is the French word for “study”. Études are commonly performed on the piano.

33 Bedwear, briefly : PJS

Our word “pajamas” (sometimes “PJs” or “jammies”) comes to us from the Indian subcontinent, where “pai jamahs” were loose fitting pants tied at the waist and worn at night by locals and ultimately by the Europeans living there. And “pajamas” is another of those words that I had to learn to spell differently when I came to America. On the other side of the Atlantic, the spelling is “pyjamas”.

34 Solution strength : TITER

Remember those titrations we did in the chemistry lab at school? They were to measure the concentration of solutions, also known as the solution’s titer.

36 Early talk show host Jack : PAAR

Jack Paar was most famous as the host of “The Tonight Show”, from 1957 to 1962. When he died in 2004, “Time” magazine wrote that Paar was “the fellow who split talk show history into two eras: “Before Paar and Below Paar”. Very complimentary …

40 Abba song or musical : MAMMA MIA

The hit musical “Mamma Mia!” was written to showcase the songs of ABBA. I’m a big fan of ABBA’s music, so I’ve seen this show a couple of times and just love it. “Mamma Mia!” is such a big hit on the stage that on any given day there are at least seven performances going on somewhere in the world. There is a really interesting film version of the show that was released in 2008. I think the female lead Meryl Streep is wonderful in the movie, but the male leads … not so much! By the way, one can tell the difference between “Mamma Mia” the ABBA song and “Mamma Mia!” the musical, by noting the difference in the punctuation in the titles.

47 Grain in Cheerios : OAT

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.

48 Chemical cousin : ISOMER

In the world of chemistry, isomers are two compounds with the same chemical formula (i.e. the same atomic constituents), but with a slightly different arrangement of the atoms relative to each other. The differing arrangement of atoms often leads to different chemical properties.

50 “E pluribus ___” : UNUM

From 1776, “E pluribus unum” was the unofficial motto of the United States. The phrase translates from Latin as “Out of many, one”. It was pushed aside in 1956 when an Act of Congress designated “In God We Trust” as the country’s official motto. “In God We Trust” had appeared on US coins since 1864, but was only introduced on paper currency in 1957.

54 Singer Lopez : TRINI

Trini Lopez is a noted singer and guitarist from Dallas, Texas. He is perhaps best known for his international hit “If I Had a Hammer” from 1963, as well as “Lemon Tree” from 1965. Lopez had a bit of an acting career as well, most famously appearing as one of “The Dirty Dozen” in the 1967 hit movie.

59 Architect Saarinen : EERO

Eero Saarinen was a Finnish-American architect who was renowned in this country for his unique designs for public buildings such as Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles International Airport Terminal, and the TWA building at JFK. The list of his lesser-known, but still impressive, works includes several buildings erected on academic campuses. For example, the Chapel and Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus, the Emma Hartman Noyes House at Vassar College, the Law School building at the University of Chicago, and Yale’s David S. Ingalls Rink.

60 Comic actor Dick Van ___ : DYKE

The iconic comedian, actor, singer and dancer Dick Van Dyke has been in the world of entertainment since the 1940s when he was a radio announcer with the US military. He really made a name for himself on television in his iconic sitcom “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. On the big screen, Van Dyke’s most famous roles were in “Bye Bye Birdie” (1963), “Mary Poppins” (1964) and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (1968).

63 “That’s overly explicit,” in textspeak : TMI

Too much information! (TMI!)

64 “Dianetics” author L. ___ Hubbard : RON

L. Ron Hubbard wrote a self-improvement book in 1950 called “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health”. A few years later, he use the concepts in the book as he founded his Church of Scientology.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Drink, as water from a dish : LAP
4 Bits of broken glass : SHARDS
10 Locks in a barn? : MANE
14 Top card : ACE
15 How café may be served : AU LAIT
16 ___ out (barely manages) : EKES
17 “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” novelist : DH LAWRENCE (giving “DH”)
19 “Nervous” reactions : TICS
20 Goes down, as the sun : SETS
21 Change from the norm : DEVIANCE
23 Bart and Lisa’s dad : HOMER SIMPSON (giving “homer”)
27 King Arthur’s home : CAMELOT
30 Cigar residue : ASH
31 Flamenco cheer : OLE!
32 Blow, as a volcano : ERUPT
35 Newspaper opinion piece : OP-ED
39 Early railroad tycoon whose nickname is a hint to the starts of 17-, 23-, 51- and 62-Across : DIAMOND JIM BRADY (giving “diamond”)
43 James of jazz : ETTA
44 Lauder of cosmetics : ESTEE
45 18 or so, for a typical first-year college student : AGE
46 “You don’t mean me?!” : MOI?!
49 Made certain : ENSURED
51 Real-life lawman who lent his name to a 1950s-’60s TV western : BAT MASTERSON (giving “bat”)
56 Pilots : AVIATORS
57 ___ car salesman : USED
61 Appear : SEEM
62 Utah senator who once ran for president : MITT ROMNEY (giving “mitt”)
66 “Star Trek: T.N.G.” counselor : TROI
67 Captivate : ENAMOR
68 Noah’s vessel : ARK
69 Europe’s highest volcano : ETNA
70 Getting up : RISING
71 “The Bells” poet : POE

Down

1 Young chaps : LADS
2 Pain in a tooth or the heart : ACHE
3 Hit repeatedly, as with snowballs : PELT
4 Viewed : SAW
5 Ben-___ (Charlton Heston role) : HUR
6 Pub offering : ALE
7 Time off, informally : R AND R
8 Cuts into small cubes : DICES
9 Sugar substitute : STEVIA
10 Nerves of steel, e.g. : METAPHOR
11 Actor Claude of old TV : AKINS
12 Classic brand of candy wafers : NECCO
13 German industrial city : ESSEN
18 Arthur of tennis fame : ASHE
22 Gchats, e.g. : IMS
24 Bread spread : OLEO
25 Time starting at dawn, to poets : MORN
26 Practice piece for a pianist : ETUDE
27 Secret message : CODE
28 Came down to earth : ALIT
29 Vegetarian’s no-no : MEAT
33 Bedwear, briefly : PJS
34 Solution strength : TITER
36 Early talk show host Jack : PAAR
37 Precipice : EDGE
38 Like Easter eggs, colorwise : DYED
40 Abba song or musical : MAMMA MIA
41 Department store department with shirts and slacks : MEN’S
42 Kiss: Sp. : BESO
47 Grain in Cheerios : OAT
48 Chemical cousin : ISOMER
50 “E pluribus ___” : UNUM
51 Moisten, as a turkey : BASTE
52 Deflect : AVERT
53 Attach with a string, say : TIE ON
54 Singer Lopez : TRINI
55 Form of the Spanish for “to be” : ESTAS
58 Become unhinged : SNAP
59 Architect Saarinen : EERO
60 Comic actor Dick Van ___ : DYKE
63 “That’s overly explicit,” in textspeak : TMI
64 “Dianetics” author L. ___ Hubbard : RON
65 Alternative to .com or .net : ORG