0118-10 New York Times Crossword Answers 18 Jan 10

The name's William Ernest Butler, but please call me Bill. I grew up in Ireland, but now live out here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm retired now, from technology businesses that took our family all over the world. I answer all emails, so please feel free to email me at bill@paxient.com

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This is my solution to the crossword published in the New York Times today ...

Completion Time: 7m 45s
Theme: The themed answers are famous game show catchphrases.
Answers I missed:  0


TODAY'S GOOGLIES ...
Across
6 POME: The Latin word for "fruit" is pomum, which gives us the botanical term "pome", meaning a group of fleshy fruits e.g. apples and pears.
20 CAN I BUY A VOWEL: This catchphrase comes from "Wheel of Fortune" which has been on the the air since 1975.
31 TAI CHI: This martial art is more correctly called tai chi chuan,  which translates as "boundless fist".
37 SURVEY SAYS:  This catchphrase comes from "Family Feud" which has aired in the US since 1976. I used to watch the UK version growing up in Ireland, where it was called "Family Fortunes".
39 ICAHN: Carl Icahn has many business interests, and is probably best known in recent years for his dealings with Yahoo.
43 COME ON DOWN: This catchphrase comes from "The Price Is Right", that was first televised way back in 1956!
55 THE PASSWORD IS: This catchphrase comes from the game show "Password" that first aired in 1961, and has been on and off the air right up till last year, 2009.
62 DALI: "The Persistence of Memory" is probably Salvador Dali's most famous work, featuring the celebrated "melting clocks". And you can see it in the MoMA in New York City.
67 ETATS: Les Etats-Unis, French for the United States.
68 X-MEN: Stan Lee originally wanted to call his heroes "The Merry Mutants" but this was changed at the request of the publisher to "X-Men". And of course now it's a famous movie franchise.

Down
3: LANA: Lana Turner earned the nickname "The Sweater Girl" after wearing a pretty tight sweater in the film "They Won't Forget", her film debut.
4 IRENE: Irene Cara is best known as an actress for her role in "Fame", and as a singer for "Flashdance ... What A Feeling".
5 DEWITT: DeWitt Clinton was largely responsible for the building of the Erie Canal.
25 AMICI: Amici is the Italian word for "friends", as would be spoken in Firenze (Florence).
27 GRAMM: Phil Gramm started his life in Congress as a Democratic Representative, and last served as a Republican Senator.
32 CAPOS: More properly called a caporegime, a capo is high-ranking member of the Mafia (cosa nostra).
34 ISLES: The Isle of Man is in the middle of the Irish Sea, and the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England.