Day: December 4, 2012

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
9. Zip preceder STATE
ZIP codes were introduced in 1963. The acronym ZIP stands for Zone Improvement Plan, a name indicating that mail travels more efficiently when the codes are included in the postal address.

15. Verdi’s “Celeste Aida,” e.g. ARIA
“Celeste Aida” translates to “Heavenly Aida”, and is an aria from the Verdi opera “Aida”.

“Aida” is the famous opera by Giuseppe Verdi, actually based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, who also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first performed in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radames is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then of course complications arise!

20. “Luncheon on the Grass” painter MANET
The French painter Édouard Manet is responsible for many great works including “Le déjeuner sur l’herbe” (The Luncheon on the Grass”) , a work you can see in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

23. Group with many golden agers AARP
AARP is now the official name for the interest group that used to be called the American Association of Retired Persons. The name change reflects the current focus of the group on all Americans aged 50 or over, as opposed to just people who have retired.

27. Like 56 minutes of each hour of The Masters telecast COMMERCIAL-FREE
Golf’s Masters Tournament is the first of the four major championships in the annual calendar, taking place in the first week of April each year. It is played at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia and has a number of traditions. One is that the winner is awarded the famous “green jacket”, but he only gets to keep it for a year and must return the jacket to the club after twelve months.

34. Federal web address ending GOV
A domain name is basically the address of a website on the Internet. Some time ago, I moved the website for this blog to a new address (from puzzle.paxient.com to NYTCrossword.com). Like in the real world, one pays for an address. I now own (well rent!) both of the addresses used for this blog, but choose to “do business”, publish the blog, at the more memorable address: NYTCrossword.com. It’s sort of like preferring to have a Park Avenue address instead of one on say Elm Street. In the Internet world, elements of the domain name are intended to indicate what type of activity goes on at a particular address. So an address with “.com” implies a “company” website, a “.org” implies a non-profit website and “.edu” implies an education website. But in reality anyone can rent whatever address they want, as it just goes to the highest bidder. Most folks remember “.com” addresses, so they are the most popular. “.com” is meant to imply a “business address” as I say, but it can even be used for somewhere to chat about crosswords!

36. Curaçao neighbor ARUBA
Aruba is one of the so-called ABC Islands. The ABC Islands is the nickname given to the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean. The nickname comes from the first letters of the island names: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. All three of the ABC Islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

37. TV’s talking horse MR ED
“Mister Ed” first aired in 1961 and ran for almost five years. It was a very successful show (and even made it to Ireland!). Mister Ed, the talking horse, was a palomino that had the real name of Bamboo Harvester. Mister Ed’s “voice” was that of actor Allan “Rocky” Lane, a star of a lot of B-movie westerns from the forties and fifties. In the show, Mister Ed would only talk to the lead (human) character Wilbur, played by Alan Young, leading to some hilarious situations. Mister Ed had a stunt double and stand-in for the show, another horse called Pumpkin. Pumpkin later played the horse that made frequent appearances on the show “Green Acres”.

39. Drum kit drum SNARE
Snare drums are so called because they have a set of wire strands (called snares) stretched across the bottom surface of the drum. When the drum is struck, the snares vibrate against the bottom drumhead producing a unique sound.

46. Molecule with a + charge, e.g. ION
Excitation of an atom occurs when the atom absorbs energy and at least one of its electrons moves out of its resting orbit into a higher orbit. When the electron returns to it lowest orbit it may do so by emitting the excess energy in the form of a photon, that is by emitting a characteristic color of light. If sufficient energy is used to excite the atom, the electron may break out of orbit completely, in which case the atom becomes a positively-charged ion.

61. Longish skirts MIDIS
The midi skirt extends to the middle of the calf, and was very fashionable in the seventies.

66. Sask. neighbor ALTA
Alberta is one of Canada’s largest provinces, and is about the size of Texas. Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Princess Louise also donated her name to Lake Louise, the large glacial lake in the province that lies within the bounds of today’s Banff National Park.

70. Tebow throw, say PASS
Tim Tebow is a quarterback playing for the Denver Broncos. Tebow was the first college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy.

Down
2. Perlman of “Cheers” RHEA
Rhea Perlman’s most famous role has to be “Carla Tortelli”, the irascible waitress in the long-running sitcom “Cheers”. Perlman is also a successful children’s author, and has published a series of six books called “Otto Undercover”. She is of course married to Hollywood actor Danny DeVito, and has been so since 1982. I was saddened to hear recently that Perlman and DeVito are splitting up.

3. Part of YMCA: Abbr. ASSN
The YMCA is a worldwide movement that has its roots in London, England. There, in 1844, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was founded with the intent of promoting Christian principles through the development of “a healthy spirit, mind and body”. The founder, George Williams, saw the need to create YMCA facilities for young men who were flocking to the cities as the Industrial Revolution flourished. He saw that these men were frequenting taverns and brothels, and wanted to offer a more wholesome alternative.

5. Possess, in the Hebrides HAE
The Hebrides is a group of islands just off the west coast of Scotland that are divided into two main group, the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

8. Honduras native MAYA
Honduras is a Central American country that used to be known as Spanish Honduras, in order to differentiate it from British Honduras now called Belize. “Honduras” is the Spanish word for “depths”.

11. Tennis great Arthur ASHE
Arthur Ashe was a professional tennis player from Richmond, Virginia. In his youth, Ashe found himself having to travel great distances to play against Caucasian opponents due to the segregation that still existed in his home state. He was rewarded for his dedication by being selected for the 1963 US Davis Cup team, the first African American player to be so honored. Ashe continued to run into trouble because of his ethnicity though, and in 1968 was denied entry into South Africa to play in the South African Open. In 1979 Ashe suffered a heart attack and had bypass surgery, with follow-up surgery four years later during which he contracted HIV from blood transfusions. Ashe passed away in 1993 due to complications from AIDS. Shortly afterwards, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.

12. Row at Wrigley TIER
The famous ballpark that is home to the Chicago Cubs was built in 1914. Back then it was known as Weeghman Park, before becoming Cubs Park when the Cubs arrived in 1920. It was given the name Wrigley Field in 1926 after the owner William Wrigley, Jr. of chewing gum fame.

13. LAX guesstimates ETDS
Los Angeles International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and the busiest here on the West Coast of the US. The airport was opened in 1930 as Mines Field and was renamed to Los Angeles Airport in 1941. On the airport property is the iconic white structure that resembles a flying saucer. This is called the Theme Building and I believe it is mainly used as a restaurant and observation deck for the public. The airport used to be identified by the letters “LA”, but when the aviation industry went to a three-letter standard for airport identification, this was changed to “LAX”. Apparently the “X” has no significant meaning.

22. Nutritional abbr. RDA
Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) were introduced during WWII, and were replaced by Recommended Daily Intakes (RDIs) in 1997.

24. 1920s-’30s Flying Clouds, e.g. REOS
The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom E. Olds (hence the name REO). The company made cars, trucks and buses, and was in business from 1905 to 1975 in Lansing, Michigan.

25. Chop-chop PRONTO
The Spanish, Italian (and now English) word “pronto” is derived from the Latin “promptus” meaning “ready, quick”.

“Chop chop” is Chinese Pidgin English, and is just a reiteration of the word “chop” used in the sense of moving quickly.

27. Greek vacation isle CORFU
Corfu is an island in the very northwest of Greece, in the Ionian Sea. Corfu is a very, very popular vacation destination for European tourists, particularly those from the UK, Scandinavia and Germany.

30. Knesset country ISRAEL
The Knesset is the legislative branch of the Israeli government, and does its business in the Givat Ram neighborhood of central Jerusalem.

31. Written in mystical letters RUNIC
A rune is a character in an alphabet that is believed to have mysterious powers. In Norse mythology, the runic alphabet was said to have a divine origin.

32. Kindle download EBOOK
The Kindle Fire is a tablet computer version of the highly successful Kindle e-book reader. If you’re looking for a tablet computer at a very reasonable price, then the Fire is hard to pass up. Amazon’s strategy is to sell the Fire at little or no profit, with the intent of selling more Amazon products, mainly digital content.

34. Former car-financing org. GMAC
GMAC is short for General Motors Acceptance Corporation. General Motors has only a small stake in GMAC now, and indeed the name has been officially changed to Ally Bank. You and me, we are the biggest shareholders in GMAC/Ally today, since the US government gave the bank $12.5 billion to bail it out in 2008-2009.

40. Hebrides tongue ERSE
There are actually three Erse languages: Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be Gaeilge (in Ireland), Gaelg (on the Isle of Man) and Gàidhlig (in Scotland).

43. Archrivals NEMESES
Nemesis was a Greek goddess, the goddess of retribution. Her role was to make pay those individuals who were either haughty or arrogant. In modern parlance, one’s nemesis is one’s sworn enemy, often someone who is the exact opposite in character but someone who still shares some important characteristics. A nemesis is often someone one cannot seem to beat in competition.

53. “Ponderosa” tree PINE
The Ponderosa Pine is the official state tree of the State of Montana.

55. Lust for life ELAN
Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours i.e “style” or “flair”.

56. Charitable distribution DOLE
The word “dole”, meaning “financial relief”, originated as the Old English word “dal”, the state of sharing or giving out. Our term “on the dole”, relating to institutional relief, dates back to the twenties.

58. Machu Picchu resident INCA
Machu Picchu is known as “The Lost City of the Incas”, and it can be visited on a mountain ridge in Peru, 50 miles northwest of the city of Cuzco in the southeast of the country. The name Machu Picchu means “old peak”.

60. Federal IDs SSNS
The main purpose of a Social Security Number (SSN) is to track individuals for the purposes of taxation, although given its ubiquitous use, it is looking more and more like an “identity number” to me. The social security number system was introduced in 1936. Prior to 1986, an SSN was required only for persons with substantial income so many children under 14 had no number assigned. For some years the IRS had a concern that a lot of people were claiming children on their tax returns who did not actually exist. So, from 1986 onward, it is a requirement to get an SSN for any dependents over the age of 5. Sure enough, in 1987 seven million dependents “disappeared”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Ho-hum time DRAG
5. Ship’s command post HELM
9. Zip preceder STATE
14. Really-really OH SO
15. Verdi’s “Celeste Aida,” e.g. ARIA
16. Hypothesize POSIT
17. Quits worrying RESTS EASY
19. Oohed and __ AAHED
20. “Luncheon on the Grass” painter MANET
21. Law firm bigwigs PARTNERS
23. Group with many golden agers AARP
26. Failed firecracker DUD
27. Like 56 minutes of each hour of The Masters telecast COMMERCIAL-FREE
34. Federal web address ending GOV
35. Office betting groups POOLS
36. Curaçao neighbor ARUBA
37. TV’s talking horse MR ED
39. Drum kit drum SNARE
41. “Want the light __ off?” ON OR
42. “Stick Up for Yourself” nasal spray AFRIN
44. Glittery topper TIARA
46. Molecule with a + charge, e.g. ION
47. “Get off my back!” CUT ME SOME SLACK
50. Mischief-maker IMP
51. Hose fillers? LEGS
52. Wide-awake OPEN-EYED
57. Wanted poster word ALIAS
61. Longish skirts MIDIS
62. Unfinished business, or, in a way, what 17-, 27- and 47-Across have in common LOOSE ENDS
65. Temporarily unavailable IN USE
66. Sask. neighbor ALTA
67. Macro or micro subj. ECON
68. Help desk staffers, usually TECHS
69. Hornet’s home NEST
70. Tebow throw, say PASS

Down
1. Quarter of a quad, perhaps DORM
2. Perlman of “Cheers” RHEA
3. Part of YMCA: Abbr. ASSN
4. Pep rally cry GO TEAM!
5. Possess, in the Hebrides HAE
6. Christian __ ERA
7. Speech impediment LISP
8. Honduras native MAYA
9. Patty turner SPATULA
10. How a pendulum swings TO AND FRO
11. Tennis great Arthur ASHE
12. Row at Wrigley TIER
13. LAX guesstimates ETDS
18. Email doesn’t require one STAMP
22. Nutritional abbr. RDA
24. 1920s-’30s Flying Clouds, e.g. REOS
25. Chop-chop PRONTO
27. Greek vacation isle CORFU
28. For all to see OVERT
29. Insurance case CLAIM
30. Knesset country ISRAEL
31. Written in mystical letters RUNIC
32. Kindle download EBOOK
33. Deservedly get EARN
34. Former car-financing org. GMAC
38. Dwindle DIMINISH
40. Hebrides tongue ERSE
43. Archrivals NEMESES
45. Aquarium accumulation ALGAE
48. One seeking intelligence SPY
49. In dreamland ASLEEP
52. Leave out OMIT
53. “Ponderosa” tree PINE
54. PTA’s focus EDUC
55. Lust for life ELAN
56. Charitable distribution DOLE
58. Machu Picchu resident INCA
59. Fusses ADOS
60. Federal IDs SSNS
63. Extra NHL periods OTS
64. Did nothing SAT

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