07.01.09 -- MICHAEL JACKSON

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Puzzle by David J. Kahn, edited by Will Shortz

In an excellent wordplay tribute to MICHAEL JACKSON (10D. With 25-Down, this puzzle’s honoree), today’s crossword gives itself over completely to the KING OF POP (47A. Nickname for 10-/25-Down). For those demanding symmetry in crosswords, it can be had with the inclusion of DIS (31D. Bad-mouth) and BYE (69A. “Farewell”) as inferences, aplenty of both in the current news. MOONWALKING (3D. Classic part of a 10-/25-Down stage act) and a FALSETTO (67A. Vocal style of 10-/25-Down, at times) were only part of a much bigger act.

THRILLER (15A. 1982 blockbuster by 10-/25-Down) headlines a selection of the artist’s works which include DANGEROUS (32A. 1991 hit album by 10-/25-Down), GONE TOO SOON (27D. Song on 32-Across), FOREVER (44D. With 10-Down, 1975 album by 10-/25-Down), and fragments of 40A. “Don’t you ASK ME for no favors” (42-Down lyric on 32-Across), SHE (11A. First word of 10-/25-Down’s “Billie Jean”) and JAM (42D. First song on 32-Across) -- LIONEL (14A. Richie who wrote “We Are the World” with 10-/25-Down) and MOTOWN (68A. First record label of 10-/25-Down) complete the visual balance of the crossword.

The remaining entries are comprised of two eight-letter entries, ALOE VERA (59A. Skin cream ingredient) and SINCERER (18A. More honest); followed by six of seven-letters -- HUNTERS (28D. Bird dogs, say); NEDICKS (22D. Old fast-food chain); OVERLIE (23D. Be positioned above); PALMTOP (46D. Handheld device) REACHES (5D. Gets to); TSETSES (29D. Flies over Africa?).

Six-letters -- ATCOST (64A. Less than wholesale); DELISH (35A. “Yum!”); ELMIRA (1A. City SW of Syracuse); SNOCAP (17A. Moviegoer’s chocolate bite); SPATES (45A. Deluges); SPINET (71A. Small piano).

Five -- ALPHA (6D. Greek leader?); AMORE (50A. Romeo’s love?); AUGHT (26A. Zero) sharing it‘s clue with NULL (52A. Zero); EVADE (30A. Give the slip to); GAPES (48D. Goggles); LEMUR (16D. Ring-tailed primate); LOAMS (53D. Rich soils); NACHO (19A. Kind of cheese); NO MAS (57A. Juan’s uncle?); 51A. Popeye creator Elzie SEGAR.

Short stuff -- ACTI, AFB, AOK, CLI and CHI, COOL, ELS, ERR, FLOS, GOES, HADJ, HALF, HEE, INCA, IRKS, JETT, LAY (60D. Minstrel’s song), LIN, NNE, NOM and NOW, ODD and OSS, OHM, OLE, PEP, PETE, PUN, REEK, RTE, SCAM, SLR, SOP, STS, SWE, TNT.

This timely crossword can itself be called a THRILLER!

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Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery.

Remaining clues -- Across: 7. Ripoff; 21. Its symbol is omega; 22. Right away; 24. Trek to Mecca; 37. Air-conditioned; 38. Dir. From Gary, Ind., to Sault Ste. Marie; 39. Grates on; 42. Joan of rock; 43. Middle of the second century; 44. Ziegfeld and others; 54. Old spy grp.; 55. Vitality; 70. Stink up the joint. Down: 1. Some urban rails; 2. Writer ___ Yutang; 4. Atahualpa, for one; 7. City grid: Abbr.; 8. ___-Town; 9. River under the Ponte Vecchio; 11. Certain camera, for short; 12. Laugh syllable; 13. Miss the mark; 20. Quirky; 33. Jean Valjean, e.g.; 34. Takes off; 36. Either 50 of 50/50; 41. Appeasement; 49. Bit of wordplay; 56. Rose family member; 58. Play starter; 59. Vance in Okla., e.g.; 61. Arena cry; 62. Itinerary part: Abbr.; 63. Just dandy; 65. Riksdag locale: Abbr.; 66. Cable channel with the slogan “We Know Drama”.

Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic?

Same strain of influenza was released by accident (?) three decades ago

It has swept across the world killing at least 300 people and infecting thousands more. Yet the swine flu pandemic might not have happened had it not been for the accidental release of the same strain of influenza virus from a research laboratory in the late 1970s, according to a new study.

Scientists investigating the genetic make-up of flu viruses have concluded there is a high probability that the H1N1 strain of influenza “A” behind the current pandemic might never have been re-introduced into the human population were it not for an accidental leak from a laboratory working on the same strain in 1977.

Yesterday, the Department of Health announced a further surge in the number of cases in Britain with another 1,604 confirmed over the weekend, and the death of a girl in Birmingham with underlying medical complications; the third death in Britain from swine flu-related problems.

It has swept across the world killing at least 300 people and infecting thousands more. Yet the swine flu pandemic might not have happened had it not been for the accidental release of the same strain of influenza virus from a research laboratory in the late 1970s, according to a new study.

Scientists investigating the genetic make-up of flu viruses have concluded there is a high probability that the H1N1 strain of influenza "A" behind the current pandemic might never have been re-introduced into the human population were it not for an accidental leak from a laboratory working on the same strain in 1977.

Yesterday, the Department of Health announced a further surge in the number of cases in Britain with another 1,604 confirmed over the weekend, and the death of a girl in Birmingham with underlying medical complications; the third death in Britain from swine flu-related problems.

Almost 6,000 Britons have now been infected with the influenza "A" (H1N1) strain of swine flu. But two medical researchers believe that this strain of the virus had been extinct in the human population for more than 20 years until it was unwittingly reintroduced by scientists working in a research lab somewhere in the world, leading to a pandemic in 1977 that began in Russia and China.

"Careful study of the genetic origin of the [1977] virus showed that it was closely related to a 1950 strain, but dissimilar to influenza 'A' (H1N1) strains from both 1947 and 1957. This finding suggested that the 1977 outbreak strain had been preserved since 1950. The re-emergence was probably an accidental release from a laboratory source," according to the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Shanta Zimmer and Donald Burke from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania said that influenza "A" (H1N1) disappeared completely from humans after a pandemic of another strain of flu in 1957. H1N1 was not detected in annual surveillance until an outbreak of H1N1 swine flu in January 1976 at a US Army base in Fort Dix, New Jersey.

This outbreak affected 230 military personnel, killing one person, but it was successfully contained and was almost certainly caused by the direct transmission of swine flu from pigs. Nevertheless, the global anxiety caused by the Fort Dix outbreak led to a surge in research into H1N1 around the world, with experiments on frozen samples of the virus stored in labs since the 1950s, Dr Zimmer said.

"I would imagine that most labs researching into influenza would have had the 1950s strain. We cannot actually pinpoint which lab had it or accidentally released it, but the re-emergence of H1N1 in 1977 made it potentially a man-made pandemic," she said.

"It's a reminder that we need to be continually vigilant in terms of laboratory procedures. The identical virus in the current pandemic would not have occurred because a component of it comes from the H1N1 strain of 1977 – but it doesn't mean to say that we wouldn't have had another one causing a pandemic," she added.

One of the most likely routes for the release of the 1950s virus is that laboratory workers became infected accidentally and then infected families and friends, Dr Zimmer explained. After the 1977 pandemic, the H1N1 strain of flu re-appeared annually as seasonal flu but this year it underwent a radical genetic change to become another pandemic strain.

Professor John Oxford of the Royal London Hospital said that the accidental release of the 1950s strain of H1N1 in 1977 is entirely plausible, but it may have been a good thing as it would have given many older people alive today some measure of immunity to the current pandemic. "We can look upon it now as a stroke of good luck," he said.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/did-leak-from-a-laboratory-cause-swine-flu-pandemic-1724448.html

Madsen: Taliban Imported to Conduct False Flag Terrorism in Iraq

More evidence has surfaced revealing how the U.S. creates false flag terrorism in order to continue its order out of chaos program in Iraq. Not only did the U.S. import Taliban fighters from Afghanistan to attack civilians and U.S. soldiers, it also allowed Muqtada al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi Army to import materials to make IEDs, according to investigative journalist Wayne Madsen, who appeared recently on Russia Today.

	Wayne Madsen on Russia Today.

“I believe this is just a classic false flag terror attack,” said Madsen. “We know that the U.S. has had a long history with the Taliban going back to the war in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union.” Madsen also mentioned the late Robin Cook, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2001, who said al-Qaeda was manufactured by the CIA and was “originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians.”

In May, Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari said that the CIA and his country’s ISI created the Taliban. “I think it was part of your past and our past, and the ISI and CIA created them together,” Zardari told NBC. He said the U.S. and the Pakistan military are still in the business of supporting the Taliban.

A whistleblower who defected from the Pakistani Taliban was assassinated earlier this month. Qari Zainuddin, a tribal leader of the South Waziristan region in Pakistan, claimed that the group was working with US intelligence to destabilize the country.

Evidence revealing false flag terrorism orchestrated by the Anglo-American coalition in Iraq came to the forefront in 2005 when Iraqi authorities in Basra arrested two British Special Forces operatives disguised as Arab civilians and caught driving around in car packed with explosives and weapons. The incident took place just prior to a major religious event.

“What this scandal confirms, in spectacular fashion, is that the ‘war on terrorism’ is a lie. It has been a lie, from the manufactured 9/11 to the present; one huge covert operation spearheaded by the US and the British governments, built upon endless faked intelligence and Downing Paper lies. It further confirms that the lie itself is becoming increasingly difficult to control,” Larry Chin wrote on September 20, 2005

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars

06.30.09 -- How Now Brown Cow

How Now Brown Cow?, Heidi Malott

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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Puzzle by Steve Dobis, edited by Will Shortz

HOW GOES IT (17A. *Informal Greeting), NOW AND AGAIN (30A. *At times), BROWN BAGGER (47A. *One not using the company cafeteria, maybe), COW PALACE (64A. *Bay Area concert venue) and ELOCUTION PHRASE (40A. Exercise in pronunciation … like the first words of the answers to the starred clues) -- HOW NOW BROWN COW.

Other -- ABACUS (49D. Device you can count on); BIRDBATH (9D. Small pool site in a yard); INTERN (8D. Worker for free often); JEERS AT (55A. Mocks); LENDING (21A. Credit union’s activity); UNNERVES (41D. Rattles).

Five-letter entries -- ACERB (27D. Sharp-tongued); AMOCO (29D. BP gas brand); AMONG (31D. In the midst of); ANNEX (20A. New wing); AWARE (33D. Clued in); BANKS (9A. Places of interest?); EGGED (4D. Prodded, with “on”); HALER (28D. More vigorous); INSERT (34D. Boxed-off map section); I QUIT (“Take this job and shove it!”); IRATE (67A. More than sore); JIBED (59A. Were in accord); LILAC (54D. Pale shade of violet); NYETS (35D. Kremlin denials); RECON (44A. Scout’s mission, for short); RUNNY (19A. Like undercooked eggs); TAWNY (39A. Lion-colored); WEB TV (63A. PC-less Internet hookup, once); ZINES (70A. Fan mags).

Short stuff -- ACHE, AGHA and AHA, AIDE, AQUI, BACH, BBS, BRET, CAMS, CHOP, COLT, DEEP, DECK, DOWN, EBAN, EBB, ECHO, ETS, ETTE, FIJI, FOE, GARB, GROG, IRON, IRS, JAIL, JERI, KING, KWAI, LAM, NOD, NOGO, NOR, NUNN, OPAL, ORAN, PREP, PTA, ROB, SEGA, STY, UNIT, WIG and WIZ.

How now, brown cow?

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Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery.

Remaining clues -- Across: 1. Senate page, e.g.; 5. Island neighbor of Tonga and Tuvalu; 14. Sea dog’s libation; 15. North African port; 23. It may be stacked or cut; 26. Knock over, so to speak; 27. “Eureka!”; 36. PC video gear for short; 38. Take it on the ___; 39. Lion-colored; 45. Hide-hair link; 46. One of TV’s Mavericks; 51. U.F.O. crew; 52. Fall back; 53. Stone for many Libras; 68. Newton or oh; 69. Liniment target; 71. Sonic the Hedgehog’s company; 72. Black belt’s blow. Down: 1. Ottoman Empire V.I.P.; 2. Hotel room amenity; 3. Elevator direction half the time; 5. “Friend or ___?”; 6. Org. with a code; 7. One corner of a Monopoly board; 10. Here, in Honduras; 11. Former Georgia senator Sam; 12. Piece moved in castling; 13. Pig’s home; 18. Plow team; 22. Affirmative action; 24. Revolver inventor; 25. “The Bridge on the River ___”; 32. Clothing; 37. Garbage hauler; 42. Scrapped, as a mission; 43. Get ready for an exam; 48. Small ammo; 50. Big Indian; 56. Israel’s Abba; 57. Suffix with kitchen or room; 58. TV color adjustment; 60. “Goldberg Variations” composer; 61. Tunnel effect; 62 Hard to fathom; 63. 1978 Diana Ross musical with “The”; 65. Halloween wear; 66. Education-conscious org.

Waking Up Is Hard to Do

Editor’s Note: Five months into Barack Obama’s administration, an unsettling awareness is settling in: that despite all the hype about hope, little has changed, especially not in Washington politics and not in the big U.S. news media.

In this guest essay, sociologist Pablo Ouziel focuses on the crisis in media and its troubling relationship to a worsening human condition:

We wake up in the morning to hear and watch the newest tragedy that has swept the world¹s media attention.

One morning it is the tragic crash of an airplane, the next some contested elections that turn violent as people rebel. Soon, the media lens is directed to the death of a star, but after a few days, the media bites ease and as a few specialized commentators continue discussing previous events, cameras and microphones have gone somewhere else.

Amidst this media frenzy, the future of the world is being orchestrated as attentive spectators watch in silence and (sometimes) disbelief.

Serious events and acts are taking place everyday which merit serious social debate, yet because of the fact that our societies are deeply fragmented, broken and clashing between each other, we are unable to grant ourselves the necessary pause, required for conciliation and unity.

Because of this, we are easy to control as a mass of isolated individuals, which is held together by norms and regulations, bureaucracies, military, and police, and concepts such as the nation state, the church and the corporation.

If we are to stay in this model of society, I fear we will live in perpetual war until we destroy ourselves by not paying attention to the fact that something is drastically wrong.

We are living in societies plagued with corruption at all levels, we are constantly expanding our militarized societies surveilled by police forces and colonizing armies, which are rapidly eroding our freedoms.

In the meantime, the resources of the world are generating massive amounts of wealth for a small minority, as our natural heritage is being rapidly dilapidated. In exchange, the majority of the global population receives what we have come to identify as “security,” when in effect, it could be clearly labeled as racketeering.

As a collective, the mass of the population gets terrorized and soon succumbs to authoritarian rule.

In the Western world - the bastion of democracy - we console ourselves with the thought that we are free, we refer to ourselves as members of the free world and compare our free societies with tyrannies that govern in other parts of the planet.

This we justify by the fact that our elected officials have reached the podium through an electoral system of some kind, thus in effect being representatives of our interests as citizens.

It can be argued that this is a fair assumption, as long as we conduct our field research in a laboratory, but if we engage with members of the numerous sub-communities, which exist within the boundaries of delineated Nation States, we quickly realize that there is tremendous discontent and frustration brewing amongst the population.

At the same time, there exists in our societies a sense of impotence and fear that if the boat is rocked, things will get worse.

As the world globalizes on different planes ­ intellectually, spiritually, socially, politically, economically and militarily, to name a few, we are faced with the realization of the global consequences of our actions, or our inactions.

At this point, all we can do is practice the great and often forgotten virtues of just analysis, honest critique and self-amelioration, hoping to contribute something of value to the global village. Without these virtues, we fall into the trap of blaming others for our barbarous crimes.

When starving kids in poorer nations are dying and have no access to food or water, we blame the country¹s tribal lords and corrupt politicians, we forget to mention the exploitation and extortion carried out by our corporations with the aid of our governments and laws.

When we go to war, we blame tyrannical leaders for forcing us to attack them ­ we unload bombs on civilian populations in the name of pre-emptive strikes and the defense of freedom. We forget to question whether we have become animals and have lost all sense of reason.

When our free-market banking system collapses and our politicians tell us that institutions are too-big-to-fail and must be bailed out by the taxpayers, we are quick to accept their jittery explanations and swiftly approve their actions.

We forget to wonder whether we are being conned. Finally, when a surveillance society rises from within our democratic communities and our freedoms are radically eroded, engrossed in our own delusion of freedom, we forget to evaluate whether we are still living in democratic states, or have transcended into something different.

It is this lack of questioning which has paralyzed us as a collective-mass, and keeps us extracted from the true decision-making process ­ the one that defines our present global reality and is shaping the future we will leave for others to inherit.

Although I believe professor Chomsky is right in advocating that “prediction in human affairs is a very uncertain enterprise,” I think it is safe to predict, that tomorrow we will wake up in the morning and the media will be playing out the show of the day.

Perhaps it will report on North Korean bombs, street fights in Iran, the failing state of California, the Madoff financial scandal, or the bombings in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan ­amidst millions of other news, which will navigate through our systems of communication mobilizing us in one direction or another.

It is also safe to predict, that unless there is a drastic change in the will and choice of the majority, at most tomorrow, we can expect isolated demonstrations making isolated requests; stop the war in Gaza, fight for gay rights, defend freedom of speech in Iran, or save the Polar Bear.

We are still far from defending a globally united cause for environmental sustainability and continuity, equality, freedom and justice for all, a fair system of distribution, and an end to oppression and war.

If we can one day unite under that banner, all together at the same time and prolonging our request, popular uprisings in Iran, in Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan, will inspire us all and we will unite under the same cause.

If this happens, together we will break our chains from the elite that govern us, and bridge the abyss, which has separated us from each other.

A brilliant man I know once told me, that despite what we are told, human beings are not too different from each other. I believe he is right, but we must wake up in order to understand this.

Pablo Ouziel is a sociologist and a freelance writer based in Spain.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/062809a.html

A world of fragility and fear

By John Pilger

TS Eliot wrote that the point of any journey was to find out where you came from. As I bore my bulging canvas bag to the wharf at Circular Quay, not far from where my Irish great-great-grandparents had landed in leg irons, I hoped the point of my journey would become clearer once my ship had sailed.

The Bretagne was my ship. It was white with blue stripes along the side and had a graceful bow, having been built in Saint-Nazaire as a modest version of the mighty Normandie. Alas, long veins of rust showed, and the crew looked morose. A Greek company now owned it, and the previous day had decanted 600 Greek brides.

The brides had been married “by proxy” in Greece to men in Australia whom they had never met. It worked this way.

Young Greek and Italian men emigrated to Australia in the post-war years to work in the outback or at night in factories.

When the authorities realised an entire gender was missing, they encouraged young women in Greece to write to their bereft male compatriots on the other side of the world. This often resulted in a wedding with the groom present only in a photograph pinned to the wedding cake. When a bride ship docked, anxious men and women would hold up photographs to identify the wife or husband they had never laid eyes on.

Unfortunately, some hearts would change during the month-long voyage, producing a certain anarchy on arrival.

My generation filled these ships on the return voyage to Europe, squeezing into six-berth cabins below the Plimsoll line in order to reach that mystical place called OT - “over there.”

On the wharf that May day, aged 22, I told my mother I would be back in a year or two.

“You won’t be back,” she said.

With departure delayed 12 hours because Captain Nick was missing, we sang our umpteenth Auld Lang Syne, and the beer and tears ran dry. Finally we steamed out into the Pacific. I thought I could see my father’s silhouette on the headland, someone flashed their headlights.

I have read about fellow expatriates who insist that, from a tender age, they longed for cultural betterment elsewhere. Clive James comes to mind.

As the bride ship slid into its first trough of green ocean and salt spray cascaded over those of us still looking back, I was smitten with what I thought was seasickness but was really homesickness - rather like some tropical maladies, it recurs all your life and there is no cure.

Having made it to Singapore, Captain Nick missed, perhaps literally, the next port (Colombo) for reasons unexplained.

As we crossed the Indian Ocean, with fresh water rationed for reasons unexplained, the horizon became a see-sawing line etched in my vision.

The tiny, always empty dance floor remained at an angle and the Italian band were to be found at the rails, lime-green of pallor.

Affordable alcohol ran dry for reasons unexplained, with the exception of sweet vermouth.

Entertainment was provided by a fight between a Greek officer, known as Matinee Idol, and a New Zealander who had thrown him into the ship’s minuscule pool when we crossed the equator.

I interviewed a sheepshearer who was going home to Greece. When the interview was published, the headline asked: “Is this the shortest shearer in Australia?”

Then, one morning, there were red cliffs and, beyond, the Suez Canal.

At Aden, I paid £12 for a Hermes Baby typewriter, which accompanied me to places of upheaval for 30 years, minus only the letter M.

When we landed at Genoa, I fell to the ground. Two years later, the bride ship blew up without loss of life, for reasons unexplained.

The journey taught me how immense the world is, and I remain in awe at the sheer magic of a flight that covers the same 13,000 miles in a day and a night.

That said, when the pilot flying a cargo of rifles, ammunition, stockfish and me into the Biafran war at night bellowed, as we approached the ghostly outline of a dirt road littered with the wreckage of aircraft: “Turn the fucking lights on so I know where to put this thing!” I was also in awe at my own fragility and fear.

Mind you, the art deco piano bar flying across the United States was no less surreal. You can take a shower on the new Airbus A380 after your massage. The magic has become routine, as if the epic scale of things no longer applies.

That is not quite true, and the trigger for these reflections is a poignant story of a journey that was on the front pages recently, but briefly, having now succumbed to Gordon Brown’s perennial crisis and the venality of his associates.

Yet it lingers on.

A backpack and a vaccination card were found and a laptop, and there was a photograph on the web of a container holding the few bodies found floating where Flight AF447 went down on June 1.

I have flown by Air France from Paris to Rio, the fatal route in reverse, and I remember the place where the trade winds collide and the ocean is sucked into the sky and becomes a vortex of a kind. My aircraft then - a Boeing 707 - rose and fell, rose and fell. The fake starlight window in the ceiling provided reassurance.

The news of Flight AF447 is now all but forgotten. I read a dignified statement by Jane and Robin Bjoroy, the parents of Alexander, aged 11, who had visited them during his half-term holiday and was on his way back to school in Bristol on AF447.

They said their son’s death was tragic. It certainly was that, and perhaps a reminder of the epic scale of things.

This article appeared in the New Statesman.

06.29.09 -- Say Cheese!

Mousetrap, Shelley Grund

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Monday, June 29, 2009

Puzzle by Paula Gamache, edited by Will Shortz

GOOD, BETTER and BEST found in the entries of GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP (17A. Seven or eight hours, typically), BETTER MOUSE TRAP (35A. Inventor’s goal) and BEST-KEPT SECRETS (52A. They rarely see the light of day) comprise the interrelated entries of this Monday, back-to-work crossword puzzle.

OLD HABITS (4D. Things that die hard) and STAR TURNS (34D. Bravura performances) are the other two entries of any length, followed by two eight-letter entries, GENIUSES (48A. Brainy bunch), ON THE SLY (20A. Furtively) and two seven-letter entries, PREEMIE (23A. Early delivery in the delivery room), SAT HOME (44A. Did nothing). HORSES (43A. Mustangs, e.g.) and RANGE (40A. Where 43-Across run free) are inter-clued.

Six-letter -- EROTIC (37D. X-rated); E-TYPES (26D. Classic Jaguars); HONEST (43D. “Really and truly”); ICE AGE (25D. Freezing period); ISSUES (9D. Topics of debate); LOW KEY (42D. Hardly ostentatious); MOURNS (24D. Expresses great sorrow); NEGATE (128D. Make null and void); NOT BAD (27A. “Hey, way to go!”); NO BUTS (27D. “Forget the excuses!”); OREIDA (28D. Frozen potato brand); POISED (5D. Self-confident, as a pageant contestant); ROOMIE (36D. Dormmate); STRIPS (19D. Prepares to streak); TB TEST (29D. Diagnostic that entails sticking the forearm with a needle).

Five -- ANGLE (6D. Journalistic slant); HD TVS (45D. Modern viewing options, for short); INCUR (9a. Bring upon oneself); KNOLL (30D. Small, rounded hill); MESAS (46D. Flat-topped Southwestern hills); NOLTE (10D. Nick of “48 HRS.”); OLIVE (56A. Martini garnish); ORBIT (32A. Moon’s path); PRIUS (23D. Fuel-efficient Toyota); SOUSE (16A. Drunkard) and the milder TIPSY (59A. A little drunk).

Short stuff -- ACHY, AGEE, ASST, BOT, CUE, DOAS, DWI (47A Drunk motorist‘s offense, briefly), ECOL, ELI, ETUI, GTOS, ICON, KRIS, LEGO, LIMO, LOLL, MOOT and MOTT, NEUT, OCT, OILS, ONCE, PAR, PDA, REP and RET, SEEK, SIP (54D. Not guzzle), SKIS, SNIP, SSTS, SUEY, TDS, TUT, UIES, USE.

It’s a short week this week -- SMILE (33D. “Say cheese!”)!

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For today’s cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.

Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery.

Remaining clues -- Across: 1. Prom night transportation; 5. Jack who once hosted “The Tonight Show”; 14. “Green” sci.; 15. “___ upon a time …”; 21. When repeated, sound of disapproval; 30. Kristofferson of music; 31. Columbus Day mo.; 33. Salon sound; 34. Chop ___; 38. 180-degree turns, in slang; 39. Removes a squeak from; 41. Super Bowl stats; 42. Do nothing and like it; 46. Rock’s ___ the Hoople; 47. Drunk motorist’s offense, briefly; 57. “___ I say, not …”); 58. Neither fem. Nor masc.; 60. Igor, to Dr. Frankenstein: Abbr.; 61. Equipment at Vail. Down: 1. Plastic block brand; 2. Pic you can click; 3. Not worth debating, as a point; 7. Sore all over; 8. Like Gen. Colin Powell: Abbr.; 11. Pool player’s stick; 12. Take advantage of; 13 Dem.’s opponent; 48. Old Pontiac muscle cars; 49. Hide-and-___; 50. Decorative needle case; 51. Former fast fliers; 52. Automaton, for short; 53. Yeller in the Yale Bowl; 54. Not guzzle; 55. BlackBerry or iPhone, briefly.

06.28.09 -- Electronic Spiral

Messier 101

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Sunday, June 28, 2009

SPIRAL, Puzzle by Will Shortz

INWARD -- 1-3 - Out of one’s mind, MAD; 4-11 - Halt, as of traffic or work, STOPPAGE; 12-19 - Setting for “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, DARTMOOR; 20-25 - Hollow-nosed bullet, DUMDUM; 26-32 - One way to serve pie (3 wds.), ALAMODE; 33-40 - Lengthen - PROTRACT; 41-51 - Scientist after whom element #102 is named (2 wds.), ALFREDNOBEL; 52-56 - French book, LIVRE; 57-62 - Allah worshiper, MOSLEM; 63-68 - One after whom a church or mosque may be named, MARTYR; 89-77 - Carrying significant debt, maybe, LEVERAGED; 78-82 - Carrying a lot of excess baggage, OBESE; 83-89 - Blanket makers, NAVAJO; 90-95 - A lot of Alaska, TUNDRA; 95-100 - Its capital is Cardiff, WALES.

OUTWARD -- 100-93 - Co-star of TV’s “Sisters” and “Once and Again” (2 wds.), SELAWARD; 92-88- Off one’s rocker, NUTSO; 97-80 - People of Indonesia’s most populous island, JAVANESE; 79-74 - Place to buy alimento and cigarrillos, BODEGA; 73-67 - Merriment, REVELRY; 66-60 - Entangle in a net, TRAMMEL; 59-50 - Boston suburb between Medford and Cambridge, SOMERVILLE; 49-44 - Glue, for example, BONDER; 43-37 - Part of a train consisting of a platform without sides or top, FLATCAR; 39-30 - Ruin, as chances, TORPEDO; 29-23 - Novelist Bernard, MALAMUD, 22-16 - Place to take off dirty shoes, MUDROOM; 15-8 - The U.S. has one with China (2 wds.), TRADEGAP; 7-1 - Allied conference site of 1945, POTSDAM.

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06.28.09 -- Secret Ingredients

The Three Witches in Macbeth, 1948 film by Orson Welles

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Sunday, June 28, 2009

SECRET INGREDIENTS, Puzzle by Barry C. Silk, edited by Will Shortz

The long entries of this plodding puzzle exist in the main to contain letters within circles spelling out DILL, OREGANO, FENNEL, PEPPER, ROSEMARY, THYME, JASMINE and GINGER "hidden" in the entries of ADMIRAL NELSON (23A. Battle of Trafalgar hero) which produces dill; COARSE-GRAINED WOOD (38A. Oak or ash), oregano; FALLEN ANGEL (60A. Lucifer, notably), fennel; PAY THE PIPER (83A. Suffer for acting unwisely), pepper; PRINCETON SEMINARY (101A. New Jersey ecumenical institution), rosemary; TIMOTHY Q MOUSE (124A. Tiny friend of Dumbo), thyme; JAMES A MICHENER (17D. “The World Is My Home” memoirist, 1991), jasmine; MANAGING EDITOR (52D. Deadline maker), ginger.

Remaining across: 1. Blade for blades, SCYTHE; 7. Pandemonium, BEDLAM; 13. 1965 title role for Peter O’Toole, LORD JIM; 20. Rip into, TEAR AT; 21. Loose, AT EASE; 22A. Cow, OVERAWE; 25. Last king of a united Israel, in the Bible, SOLOMON; 26. Chinese export, TEA; 27. Sleep like A LOG; 28. Kind of track, TENURE; 30. Proceed, WEND; 31. “God’s IN HIS heaven, all’s right with the world”; 33. Manhattan neighborhood, NOHO; 35. Two-time host of the Olympics, ATHENS; 43. Antique, say, AGE; 46. Obama cabinet member Salazar, KEN; 47. Silents star Renée ADOREE; 48. Platypus, e.g., MAMMAL; 50. Hasty escape, LAM; 53. Not so civil, RUDER; 56. Slate, e.g., informally, E-MAG; 57. Computer letters, E-MAILS; 58. “She’s A RAG doll” (4 Seasons lyric); 63. ESPN topic, NCAA; 64. It was flown by James Bond in “Dr. No”, PAN AM; 68. Investor’s concern, YIELD; 67. Mimic of a sort, MYNAH; 69. Site of many a fountain, PLAZA; 70. SAM’S Club; 71. You may work on it, SPEC; 74. Container that’s hoisted, STEIN; 77. Costume, GET-UP; 79. Kid, TEASE; 80. Title girl of a 1964 Beach Boys song, WENDY; 81. Runner Zátopek, EMIL; 88. Spiny EELS (aquarium fish); 89. The Brady Bill is one, GUN LAW; 91. Elvis’s middle name, ARON; 92. “Me too”, SO DO I; 94. Bar stock, RYE; 95. German chancellor Merkel, ANGELA; 96. 1983 Peace Nobelist, WALESA; 98. Magazine department, ART; 100. Stop, DIE; 108 Daydreamer’s doing, DOODLE; 110. Biblical kingdom, MOAB; 111. Fifth-century pope, ST LEO; 112. Medical suffix, ITIS; 114. Party to a financial transaction, DRAWEE; 118. Transaction option, CASH; 120. Upper limit, LID; 121 Co-star of “Gumpy Old Men, “ 1993, MATTHAU; 127. Amorphous, AMOEBIC; 128. Like a yellow polka dot bikini in a 1961 #1 hit, TEENIE; 129. The Father of Genetics, MENDEL; 130. Eat away CORRODE; 131. Tumult, UNREST; 132. Lays low?, INTERS.

Down: Interference, STATIC; 2. César CEDENO, five-time Gold Glove winner, 1972-76; 3. Kawasaki competitor, YAMAHA; 4. Numerical prefix, TRI; 5. Tormentor, HARASSER; 6. Abbr. after some names, ET AL; 7. City on the Penobscot, BANGOR; 8. When ecole is not in session, ETE; 9. Shoulder muscle, DELTOID; 10. Perform high-tech surgery on, LASE; 11. “And she shall bring forth A SON”. Matthew 1:21; 12. It may be written on a blackboard, MENU; 13. Finish behind, LOSE TO; 14. Egg: Prefix, OVO; 15. Brother or brother-in-law: Abbr., REL; 16. Be covered, with “in”, DROWN; 18. Cry of glee, I WON; 19. Heal, MEND; 24. Time-consuming, LONG; 29. Possible source of salmonella poisoning, RAW EGG; 32. Bug, IRK; 34. Tulip-exporting city, HAARLEM; 36. Plain, HOMELY; 37. Cheese town, EDAM; 39. Ample, informally, ENUF; 40. NO END in sight; 41. Witty Bombeck, ERMA; 42. School appointment, DEAN; 44. Bash, GALA; 46. Designer Schiaparelli, ELSA; 49. Sighting off the Florida coast, MANATEE; 50. Dweller on the Arctic Circle, LAPP; 51. Uzbekistan’s ARAL Sea; 54. Place for a masseuse, DAY SPA; 55. “Dream Children” essayist, ELIA; 59. Swift runner, GAZELLE; 61. 2002 British Open champ, ELS; 62. Made introductions, say, EMCEED; 65. Gymnast’s need, MAT; 68. Australian state: Abbr., NSW; 71. Equinox mo., SEP; 72. Buddy, PAISANO; 73. Former Orr teammate, familiarly ESPO; 75. Without purpose, IDLY; 76. It has 1,366 seats: Abbr. NYSE; 78. To the stars, UPWARD; 79. Principle, TENET; 81. Old expletive, EGAD; 82. Bond type, briefly, MUNI; 84. Big bore, YAWNER; 85. Gillette’s TRAC II; 86. Argument weakness, HOLE; 87. Meander, ROAM; 90. Purina brand, ALPO; 93. Ones whose symbol is a harp, IRISHMEN; 97. A person, SOMEONE; 99. Coyote’s supply in Road Runner cartoons, TNT; 102. Axis leader, IL DUCE; 103. Bag in a closet, SACHET; 104. Web site with the headings “Toys & Hobbies”: and “Music”, E-BAY; 105. Refer, ALLUDE; 106. Paul of “Made About You”, REISER; 107. Snack food made by Drake’s, YODELS; 109. Blender brand, OSTER; 112. G4 or G5, IMAC; 113. TAMO-shanter; 115. North Pacific island, ATTU; 116. Locale for Apfelstrudel and Sachertorte, WIEN; 117. Like 911: Abbr., EMER; 119. 640 acres: Abbr., SQ MI; 122. “Curb Your Enthusiasm” airer, HBO; 123. First AID; 125. Poetic contraction, TIS; 126. Home of Point Pelee Natl. Park, ONT.

No more secrets!

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How the west was lost

A sympathetic analysis of China's onward march towards global domination impresses Michael Rank

When China Rules the World: The Rise of the
Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World

Martin Jacques has written movingly and angrily about the death of his Indian-Malaysian wife in a Hong Kong hospital, claiming that the tragedy arose from a deep Chinese prejudice against anyone with a dark skin. So it comes as quite a surprise to discover that, far from warning of the dangers of a world likely to be dominated by a racist superpower, the author admires the Chinese enormously and views China's self-proclaimed "peaceful rise" with a remarkable degree of equanimity.


Jacques claims that "In an important sense, China does not aspire to run the world because it already believes itself to be the centre of the world, this being its natural role and position", and discusses sensitively and in depth what it means to be the "middle kingdom". He also argues that China is essentially a "civilisation state" rather than a western-style nation state. "The term civilisation normally suggests a rather distant and indirect influence and an inert and passive presence," he notes. "In China's case, however, it is not only history that lives but civilisation itself: the notion of a living civilisation provides the primary identity and context by which the Chinese think of their country and define themselves."

One of the fundamental features of Chinese politics is the overriding emphasis placed on the country's unity, Jacques claims. This occasionally leads to contradictions which he does not entirely resolve, for he also stresses China's diversity, going so far as to claim that "China's provinces are far more differentiated than Europe's nation-states, even when eastern Europe and the Balkans are included". The question of unity and diversity leads to a stimulating comparison of China and India, a far more pluralistic - and democratic - nation, and Jacques notes how the enormous cultural differences between the world's two most populous countries have resulted in "an underlying lack of understanding and empathy".

The book is based on a well-informed and subtle analysis of Chinese history and culture, and as the title implies, Jacques is convinced that it is not a matter of whether China will dominate the world over the next few decades, but how. He is careful to avoid over-confidence in his predictions, however, and notes that "China's present behaviour can only be regarded as a partial indicator, simply because its power and influence remain limited compared with what they are likely to be in the future". But he is surely right to say that American confidence that "the Chinese are inevitably becoming more like us" is misplaced and is based on a view of globalisation that is seriously flawed.

Jacques is likely to raise eyebrows in some quarters by playing down China's military potential; he sees China's arms buildup as being aimed largely at blocking any possible Taiwanese moves towards independence rather than at achieving world domination, and he claims that its own technological level remains relatively low. In the face of US and EU bans on selling weapons to Beijing, its only potential foreign supplier is Russia, Jacques says, and Moscow is hardly eager to see a militarily powerful China.

But it is China's fast-growing economic power which has the world transfixed right now, and Jacques is confident that this will grow further. In the long term he expects China "to operate both within and outside the existing international system, seeking to transform that system while at the same time, in effect, sponsoring a new China-centric international system which will exist alongside the present system and probably slowly begin to usurp it".

In perhaps his most provocative remarks, Jacques praises China's communist leaders for their "remarkable perspicacity ... never allowing themselves to be distracted by short-term considerations". He appears to defend the party's failure to move towards democracy, stating that China has devoted itself to economic growth, having concluded that it cannot afford to be diverted by what it "rightly deemed to be non-essential ends".

Jacques observes, as commentators such as Jonathan Fenby have also noted, how the party has confounded western assumptions that the consumer boom over the last 20 years, the internet and the flood of Chinese travelling abroad on business or for pleasure would inevitably result in moves towards western-style democracy. He is not perturbed by this and is indeed sympathetic to the "not misplaced view that any move towards democracy is likely to embroil the country in considerable chaos and turmoil".

It is on race, not unexpectedly, that Jacques is most critical of China. He says "racialised ways of thought ... have been on the rise in both popular culture and official circles", and he expects this to continue, with China's "sense of superiority resting on a combination of cultural and racial hubris".

Some flaws are inevitable in such a lengthy and wide-ranging book. Jacques's discussion of Japanese culture is cliché-laden (the Japanese are "exquisitely polite", "You will never seen any litter anywhere" and the country is virtually crime-free) and it is surprising that his discussion of China's historical scientific and technological achievements makes no mention of Joseph Needham's towering contributions to the field. There are also occasional factual mistakes: Japan annexed north-east, not north-west China in 1931, and Shanghainese is not a dialect of Mandarin. In addition, the author occasionally cites dubious statistics: for example, I find it impossible to believe that 100 million Chinese tourists will visit Africa annually in the near future.

Despite such foibles, this is an extremely impressive book, full of bold but credible predictions. Only time will tell how Jacques's prophecies pan out, but I suspect his book will long be remembered for its foresight and insight.

• Michael Rank is a former Reuters correspondent in China

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/27/china-rules-world-martin-jacques

The American Way of War

By Fred Reed

More... ...

Being a military thinker of the profoundest sort, I offer the following manual of martial affairs for nations yearning to copy the American way of war. Read it carefully. Great clarity will result. The steps limned below will facilitate disaster without imposing the burden of reinventing it. The Pentagon may print copies for distribution.

(1) Underestimate the enemy. Fortunately this is easy when a technologically advanced power prepares to attack an underdeveloped nation. Its enemy's citizens will readily be seen as gadgetless, primitive, probably genetically stupid, and hardly worth the attention of a real military.

(2) Avoid learning anything about the enemy ­ his culture, religion, language, history, or response to past invasions. These things don't matter since the enemy is gadgetless, primitive, and probably genetically stupid. Anyway, knowledge would only make the enlisted ranks restive, and confuse the officer corps.

Blank ignorance of the language is especially desirable (as well as virtually guaranteed). For one thing, it will allow your troops to be seen as brutal invaders having nothing in common with the population; this helps in winning hearts and minds. For another, it will allow English-speaking officials of the puppet government to vet such information about the country as they permit you to have.

(3) Explain the invasion to the American public in simple moral terms suitable for middle-school children at an evangelical summer camp: We are bombing cities to bring the gift of democracy and American values, or to defeat some vague but frightening evil, perhaps lurking under the bed, or to get rid of a bad dictator no longer of service to us, or to bring freedom and prosperity to any survivors. (This doesn't work in Europe, which is honestly imperialistic.) The public can then feel a sense of unappreciated virtue when the primitives resist. Sententious moralism should always trump reason.

(4) A misunderstanding of military reality helps. Besides, comprehension would only lead to depression. As Napoleon said, or may have, in war the moral is to the material as three is to one, which implies that unpleasant facts should be played down in favor of cultivating a cheerful attitude. Most especially, it should not be noted that a few tens of thousands of determined, probably genetically-stupid primitives with small arms can tie down a cheerful force however gaudily armed.

Pay no attention to tactics, which are boring. It should never enter your mind that in this sort of war, if you don't win, you lose; if the enemy doesn't lose, he wins. Think about something else. Above all, do not understand that the enemy's target is not you, but public opinion at home. You don't need to remember this, as the enemy will remember it for you.

(5) Do not forget that a military's reason for existence is to close with the enemy and destroy him. An army is not in the social-services business. Do not let the mission be impeded by touchy-feely considerations. If you have to kill seventeen children to get a sniper, so be it. The enemy must realize that you mean business. Ignore cultural traits, which are of concern only to idealistic civilians. Grope the enemy's women. High-profile rapes are a good idea as they teach respect. It is better to be feared than loved. Be sure the embassy has a helipad.

(6) Intellectual insularity should be a primary goal, as it avoids distraction. This salubrious condition can be achieved by having officers read Tom Clancy instead of history. In military discourse it also helps to encourage the use of phrases like "force multiplier" and "multi-dimensional warfare," as these increase confidence without meaning anything.

Remember that doctrine and optimism should always outweigh history and common sense. Discourage colonels and above from reading about similar campaigns fought by other armies, as this might lead to nagging doubts, conceivably even to thought. Encourage the belief that other countries have lost wars by being inferior to the United States. "The French lost in Viet Nam? What else would you expect from the French? Never happen to us."

Some military philosophers favor actually removing from military libraries books on what happened to the French in Viet Nam, the Americans in Viet Nam, the Russians in Afghanistan, the Americans in Afghanistan (a work in progress), the French in Algeria, the Americans in Iraq (also in progress), the Israelis in Lebanon the first time, the Israelis in Lebanon the last time, the Americans in Lebanon 1983, the Americans in Somalia the first time, and so on. However, the best thinkers hold that it doesn't matter what books are in military libraries, as only those on stirring victories will be checked out.

(7) Keep up to date with the latest nostrums and silver bullets. Organize your military as a lean, mean, high-tech force characterized by lightning mobility, enormous firepower, and extraordinary unsuitability for the kind of wars it will actually have to fight. Flacks from the PR department of Lockheed will help in this. Recognize that an advanced fighter plane costing two hundred million dollars, invisible to radar, employing dazzling electronic countermeasures, and able to cruise at supersonic speed, is exactly the thing for fighting a rifleman in a basement in Baghdad. Such aircraft are crucial force multipliers in multi-dimensional warfare. Anyway, Al Quaeda might field an advanced air force at any moment. It pays to be ready.

(8) It is a good idea to bracket your exposure. Be ready for wars past and future, but not present. The Pentagon does this well. Note that the current military, an advanced version of the WWII force, is ready should the Imperial Japanese Navy return. It also has phenomenally advanced weaponry in the pipeline to take on a space-age enemy, perhaps from Mars, should one appear. It is only the present for which the US is not prepared.

(9) View things in a large context. People who have little comprehension of the military tend to focus exclusively on winning wars, missing the greater importance of the Pentagon as an economic flywheel. Jobs are more important than wars fought in bush-world countries. An American military ought to think of Americans first. This is simple patriotism. It is essential to spend as much money as possible on advanced weapons that have no current use, and none in sight, but produce jobs in congressional districts. Good examples are the F-22 fighter, the F-35, the Airborne Laser, the V-22, and the ABM.

(10) Insist that the US military never loses wars. Instead, it is betrayed, stabbed in the back, and brought low by treason. For example, argue furiously that the US didn't lose in Viet Nam, but won gloriously; the withdrawal was due to the treachery of Democrats, Jews, hippies, the press, most of the military, and a majority of the general population, all of whom were traitors. This avoids the unpleasantness of learning anything from defeat. Further, it facilitates a focus on controlling the press, who are the real enemy, along with the Democrats and the general population.

(11) Avoid institutional memory. Not having lost of course means that there is nothing to remember. Instead, read stirring novels and cultivate a cheerful, can-do attitude unintimidated by primitives in sand-lot countries, who are probably genetically stupid.

(12) Do it all again next time.

Rense.com

Obama Issues Signing Statement On War Spending Bill

The American Way of War

06.27.09 -- Ill at Ease

The Confession, 1896, Sir Frank Bernard Dicksee

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Saturday, June 27, 2008

Puzzle by Trip Payne, edited by Will Shortz

CHRIST (42D. Word that first appears in Matthew 1:1) and BLESS ME FATHER (35A. Start of a confession) stand out in this craftily-clued Saturday crossword, along with the pair of ILL AT EASE (52A. Uncomfortable) and SELF-CONSCIOUS (31A. Uncomfortable, in a way), continuing with TELLS (59A. Relates to) and VESPERS (20A. They’re observed in the evening) with ENEMIES (2D. They’re opposed) and MEDIATE (3D. Talk to two 2-Down, say) recommending conciliation -- a little religion never hurts!

Mystery continues in many clues of the remaining long entries -- ANCESTOR (24D. Genealogical discovery); CAT LITTER (58A. Contents of a certain household box); DEMO TAPES (1A. Rock samples); EYE CHART (21D. It begins with an E [in two ways]); ONE OR MORE (15A. Any); RED PEPPER (17A. Salad ingredient); SETS ON FIRE (28A. Lights); SPRITZERS (60A. Cocktails lacking hard liquor) and TOMB RAIDER (43A. Influential 1996 video game), FYI nearly 500 video games were released in 1996.

Seven-letter -- ANGELOU (12D. “Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Diiie” poet); BRIOCHE (35D. French bread); EDUCATE (40D. School); LACKEYS (23A. Henchmen); LACTEAL (36D. Milky); MOSAICS (37D. Multipart art); POST-ITS (46A. Yellow squares, often); REVISER (41D. Agent of change); ROTH IRA (48A. Receiver of some contributions); SERVERS (9D. Waitstaff); STEREOS (13D. They’re often playing at home).

Five- and six-letter -- DO-RAGS (1D. Rappers wrappers); EAGER (18A. Keen); GLESS (10D. Actress co-starring in TV’s “Burn Notice”); GNASH (10A. Rub together); 30D. HO CHI Minh; HORSED (14D. Cut up, with “around”); ICE UP (51A. Freeze); IOTAS (32D. Is in Athens?); LENTO (16A. “Proceed slowly”); LOFTS (23D. Throws up); PIPES (46D. They have connections); RAVERS (44D. Movie critics, sometimes); SHALE (57A. Oil source); SLEET (29D. Some pellets).

Short stuff -- ALI, AMIS, AMP, CFO, CRAT, EMT, ERE and ETE, FBI, GIA, HIC and HOC, HOOD, HULL, KIN, LAP (53A. You could stand to lose it), LEE, LTR, MCIV, METZ, NEAP, OOPS, POP, TIT, TRE, UVA.

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Remaining clues -- Across: 19. Author of “Time’s Arrow,” 1991, a novel written in reverse chronological order; 22. Actress Scala; 27. “Pushing Daisies” star ___ Pace; 33. Quebec’s Festival d’___; 34. Post ___ (after-the-fact); 42. Auto finish?; 45. Drink whose name suggests its vitamin content; 47. Sch. Founded by a president; 50. Year that Acre fell in the First Crusade. Down: 4. Mumble after a fumble; 5. Hero of “Boyz N the Hood”; 6. Excite, with “up”; 7. ___ psychology; 8. Outmoded preposition; 11. Spring’s opposite; 25. Budgetary bigwig, for short; 26. They have connections; 38. Defibrillator user, for short; 39. RICO Act enforcer; 49. Bottom of the sea?; 50. Birthplace of poet Paul Verlaine; 54. Delta, for one: Abbr.; 55. BBC’s Sports Personality of the Century; 56. Black-throated ___ (Asian bird.