0421-10 New York Times Crossword Answers 21 Apr 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, or leave a comment below.

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

COMPLETION TIME: 9m 19s
THEME: DIAGONAL PARKING ... all the theme answers are makes of car, parked diagonally across the gird in the circled squares i.e. FORD, DODGE, FIAT, AUDI, LEXUS, SAAB
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

TODAY'S WIKI-EST, AMAZONIAN GOOGLIES
Across
16. Flintstones' pet : DINO
In the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series "The Flintstones" Dino, the pet dinosaur, was voiced by the famous Mel Blanc, until his death in 1989.

22. Denver's ___ University : REGIS
Regis University in Denver is a Roman Catholic, Jesuit school, founded by the Society of Jesus in 1877. Among the alumni of Regis are Campbell Brown, the news host on CNN, and Bill Murray (although Bill Murry just attended the school ... he never graduated).

25. Ones flying in formation : GEESE
Apparently geese fly in that V-formation for a couple of reasons. One is that it makes for efficient flight and conserves energy. The leading bird gets no advantage, but every following bird gets to "slipstream" a little. It has been noted that the lead bird drops to the back of the formation when he/she gets fatigued. It's also thought that the flock can stick together more easily when in formation, so it is more difficult to lose someone along the way.

29. Rigel or Spica : BLUE STAR
Stars vary in color because they vary in temperature. Relatively cool stars appear red in color, while the hotter stars appear to be more blue.

32. Thérèse, for one: Abbr. : STE
Ste. Therese (Saint Teresa, in French).

34. Protection: Var. : EGIS
Egis is a variant of the word "aegis". Someone is said to be under the aegis of someone else (for example) is that other person provides protection, or perhaps sponsorship.

36. Himalayan legends : YETIS
A yeti is a beast of legend, also called an abominable snowman. Yeti is a Tibetan term for the beast, which is fabled to live in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. Our equivalent legend in North America is that of Bigfoot.

44. 2005 documentary subtitled "The Smartest Guys in the Room" : ENRON
The 2005, award-winning documentary was based on a 2003 book of the same name, written by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, reporters for "Fortune" magazine. Fascinating stuff ...

46. Word for word? : MOT
"Mot" is the French word for "word". Nice clue ...

47. U.S. Dept. of Justice raiders : ATF
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is today part of the department of Justice. However it has its roots in the Department of Treasury dating back to 1886 when it was known as the Bureau of Prohibition. "Explosives" was added to the department's name when the bureau was moved under the control of the Department of Justice as part of the government reorganization called out in the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

56. Pound and others : EZRAS
Ezra Pound was an American poet who spent much of his life wandering the world, spending years in each of London, Paris, and Italy. In Italy, his work and sympathies for Mussolini's regime led to his arrest at the end of the war. His major work was the epic, albeit incomplete "The Cantos". The poem is divided into 120 sections, each known as a canto.

60. "___ the Sheriff" (Eric Clapton hit) : I SHOT
Can you believe that Eric Clapton only had one chart-topper in the US? In 1974 he released a cover version of the Bob Marley classic "I Shot the Sheriff", and ended up selling more copies of the song than Bob Marley did himself.

65. Half of a giant 1999 merger : EXXON
The Exxon Corporation was a descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company. Exxon merged with Mobil (yet another descendant of Standard Oil) in 1999, forming ExxonMobil.

67. ___-shanter : TAM O
A tam o'shanter is a man's cap worn by Scotsmen. They were originally all blue (and called "blue bonnets") but as dyes became more available, they became more colorful. The name tam o'shanter comes from the title character of Robert Burns poem "Tam O'Shanter".

68. International shoe company : ALDO
The brand name ALDO comes from the company's founder, Aldo Bensadoun, who set up the company in 1964 in Montreal.

70. Composer Khachaturian : ARAM
Aram Khachaturian was a Soviet-Armenian composer, who created many works that were influenced by Armenian culture. His most famous piece of music is the frenetic "Saber Dance" from the ballet "Gayane". My favorite composition though is the "Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia". It was used as the theme for a BBC drama called "The Onedin Line" and will always evoke for me images of tall ships and vast oceans.

71. Lucy's love : DESI
Desi Arnaz was of course famous for his turbulent marriage to Lucille Ball. Desi Arnaz was from Cuba, and from a privileged family. His father was mayor of Santiago and served in the Cuban House of Representatives. However, the family had to flee to Miami after the 1933 revolution led by Batista.

72. Counterparts of dahs : DITS
Dahs and dits are the sound equivalents of dashes and dots of Morse Code. Samuel Morse didn't invent Morse code, but it took his name because it was invented for use on the electric telegraph invented by him.

73. Belgrade native : SERB
Belgrade today is the capital city of Serbia. The name Belgrade translates into "White City".

Down
1. Rap component, to a rapper : FLOW
When one is rapping (like I would ever do that!) the flow is the name given to the rhythm and rhyme, a separate component from the content and the delivery.

2. Special seating area : LOGE
In most theaters today the loge is name given to the front rows of a mezzanine level. It can also be the name given to box seating.

4. River with its source in the Appalachians : PEE DEE
The Pee Dee River takes its name from the Pee Dee tribe of Native Americans from the southeast of the United States. The Pee Dee rises in the Appalachians of North Carolina, where it is known as the Yadkin River. The Pee Dee is the name for the lower section, which mainly flows through South Carolina, emptying into the Atlantic at Georgetown, SC.

5. Onetime White House monogram : DDE
President Eisenhower was born David Dwight Eisenhower, but by the time he made it to the White House, he was going by the name Dwight D. Eisenhower. Growing up, his family called him Dwight, and when "Ike" enrolled in West Point he himself reversed the order of his given names.

6. Liberal pundit with a conservative father : RON REAGAN
Ron Reagan's views couldn't be any further from his father's, I think. Before Air America went bust, he had a daily 3-hour spot. Today he makes frequent appearances on MSNBC. Reagan is a good dancer, and was a member of the Joffrey Ballet.

12. Big name in applesauce : MOTT'S
Samuel R. Mott was producer of apple cider and vinegar, and in 1842 he founded his own company to market and sell his products. The company (now part of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group) owns brands such as Mr & Mrs T, Hawaiian Punch and ReaLime/ReaLemon.

15. Black and white Mad magazine figures : SPIES
"Spy vs Spy" is a comic strip that has run in "Mad" magazine continuously since 1961. It was drawn by Antonio Prohias, a refugee from Cuba. The early storyline was very fitting for the times, a statement about the futility of the arms race, detente and the Cold War.

21. Paris possessive : SES
SES is the French for "their".

23. Woodland reveler of myth : SATYR
The satyrs of Greek mythology came with a very high sex drive. They are often the "rude" subjects drawn on the side of old Greek vases.

26. British submachine gun : STEN
The name STEN is an acronym. The S and the T came from the name of the gun's designers, Shepherd and Turpin. The EN came from the Enfield brand name, which in turn came from location of Enfield, where the guns were manufactured for the Royal Small Arms Factory, an enterprise owned by the British government.

28. Welsh national emblem : LEEK
I don't think anyone knows for sure why the leek is a national emblem of Wales (along with the daffodil). One story is that the Welsh were ordered to wear leeks in their helmets to identify themselves in a battle against the Saxons ... the battle took place in a field of leeks apparently.

30. Pork cut : LOIN
Pork loin is the tissue along the top of the ribs.

48. Topps competitor : FLEER
The Fleer Corporation was founded in 1885, and was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum (how I wish they hadn't!). Topps didn't come along until 1938. Topps was a relaunch of an older company called American Leaf Tobacco. The earlier company was in trouble because it could not get supplies of its Turkish tobacco, so it moved into another chewy industry.

54. Willy Wonka Candy Company brand : NERDS
The Willy Wonka Candy Company brand is owned by Nestle, and operates using licensed materials from the Roald Dahl book "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory". The brand is getting a resurgence in sales bolstered by a marketing tie-in with the 2005 film adaptation starring Johnny Depp. Nerds is a name on a whole line of candy's produced within the brand's portfolio.

59. M years before the Battle of Hastings : LXVI
1,000 (M) years before the Battle of Hastings in 1066 would be 66 AD (LXVI).

61. Epps or Sharif : OMAR
Omar Epps is the actor who plays Dr. Eric Foreman on the excellent television series "House". Omar Sharif is the great Hollywood actor from Egypt, who played such great roles in the likes of "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia". But to me, he is my bridge hero (the card game). In his day, he was one of the best players in the world, but does not play at all anymore.

64. Decorative pond fish : KOI
Koi are also called Japanese carp. They have been bred for decorative purposes and there are now some very brightly colored koi found in Japanese water gardens.

66. Super ___ (1980s-'90s game console) : NES
The acronym stands for Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The kids probably have one. I wouldn't know ...