0211-10 New York Times Crossword Answers 11 Feb 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: N/A (watching the movie "Amelia" ... it's excellent!)
Theme: ABRAHAM LINCOLN, whose name runs down the NW-SE diagonal of the grid. The theme answers all relate to ABE.
Answers I missed: 0

TODAY'S WIKI-EST, AMAZONIAN GOOGLIES
Across
5 LEARY: Timothy Leary was an icon of the sixties counterculture, a promoter of the use of LSD. On his death, some of his ashes were "buried" in space, launched aboard a rocket that contained the ashes of 24 other people, including "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.

10 DEBS: Eugene V. Debs was an American union leader who ran as a Presidential candidate in 5 elections from 1900 through 1920. Debs was a dedicated socialist, and ran for President as a member of the Social Democratic Party, and later the Socialist Party of America.

15 ARTOO: Artoo's proper name is R2-D2, the smaller of the two famous droids from "Star Wars".

17 DERN: Laura Dern played Florida's Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, in the (excellent) 2008 movie "Recount".

20 CACAOS: Cacoas are the small, evergreen trees which produces the seeds from which cocoa powder and chocolate are made.

25 IAN: Ian Hunter, as well as being the frontman for Mott the Hoople, wrote the song "Cleveland Rocks", the anthem from "The Drew Carey Show".

33 HRS: Designated Hitters often have lots of Home Runs.

37 EUROPA: As are many celestial bodies, the moon of Jupiter called Europa was named after a figure in Greek mythology. Europa was a Phoenician woman, famously abducted by Zeus. Of course, Europa also gave her name to the continent of Europe.

42 SHOO IN: Apparently the term "shoo in" originated in the world of horse racing. Corrupt jockeys would "shoo in" their horses, slowing them down, letting a slower horse win, one who they themselves had laid a bet on. The slower horse was the "shoo in" for the race.

43 SLS: The Mercedes-Benz SL was first manufactured in 1954. The "SL" stands for Sport Leicht, or "Sport Light" in English.

44 S.O.S.: The ABBA song "S.O.S." was originally titled "Turn Me On". In the movie "Mama Mia", it is performed by Meryl Streep (brilliantly) and by Pierce Brosnan (terribly).

50 IRA: Ira Gershwin wrote the lyrics to brother George Gershwin's music.

51 NASH: The Nash Ambassador was produced by Nash automobiles from 1932. It was manufactured by AMC up until 1974.

56 USNA: Ross Perot graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1953, as president of his class. He served his 4-year commitment, but resigned his commission apparently somewhat disillusioned with the navy.

67 SLOE: Someone who is sloe-eyed has large, dark eyes, often almond-shaped. The term comes from a comparison with the fruit of the blackthorn, or sloe.

69 SION: Sion is the capital of Valais, the canton in the southwest of Switzerland.

Down
1 AC/DC: Heavy Metal band AC/DC was formed in Australia by two brothers in Australia. The group is usually called "Acca Dacca" down under.

6 ERE: Lord Byron wrote his poem "Maid of Athens" while living in Athens in 1810, and dedicated it to the daughter of his landlady.

19 ST. PAUL: "A Prairie Home Companion" started broadcasting in its present form in 1974. When it isn't n the road, it is broadcast from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul.

25 IN ME: "She Believes in Me" was a big cross-over hit for Kenny Rogers in 1978, a country song that made it big in the pop charts. It appears on his album "The Gambler".

27 ETRE: Jean-Paul Sartre wrote the philosophical treatise "L'Etre at le neant" in 1943. The title translates as "Being and Nothingness".

29 AETNA: When Aetna was founded, the name was chosen to invoke Mt. Etna, the European volcano.

30 PEPSI: Billy Joel sings about the Pepsi-Coke rivalry in his song "We Didn't Start the Fire". There is a reference "rock & roll and cola wars", which alludes to Coke's use of Paula Abdul in advertising, which Pepsi trumped with Michael Jackson.

39 VOCE: Mezza voce, literally "half voice", means to sing with moderate volume or a subdued tone.

41 SARACEN: The Ancient Romans first used the term Saracen, to describe the non-Arab people of Syria. The term was expanded to mean Arab people , and in the time of the Crusades, Saracen was used to descibe anyone of the Muslim faith.

52 SHOGI: The word shogi means general's (sho) boardgame (gi), and is a Japanese variant of chess, complete with kings, rook, bishops etc.

54 ARMS: The famous "Venus de Milo" is so named as it was discovered in the ancient city ruins of Milos, on the Aegean island of Milos. I've seen it, in the Louvre in Paris, and was surprised to see how large it is: 6 ft 8 in tall).