NYXCrossword.com

Bill’s time: 8m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Scott ___, author of “Island of the Blue Dolphins” : O’DELL

Author Scott O’Dell mainly wrote historical novels for young people. His best-known work is the 1960 novel “Island of the Blue Dolphins”, which is about a young girl stranded for years on an island off the California coast. The book is based on a true story of a Native American girl left alone on one of California’s Channel Islands for 18 years, before being rescued in 1853.

10A Be in need of ibuprofen, say : ACHE

The anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen is sold under the brand names Advil and Motrin.

14A Word with cap or socks : KNEE …

The patella is the kneecap. The bone’s Latin name “patella” is a diminutive form of “patina”, the word for “pan”. The idea is that the kneecap is pan-shaped.

15A Diet that eschews processed food : PALEO

The paleolithic (or “paleo, caveman”) diet is a fad diet that became popular in the 2000s. The idea is to eat wild plants and animals that would have been available to humans during the Paleolithic era (roughly the Stone Age). This period precedes the introduction of agriculture and the domestication of animals. As a result, someone on the diet avoids consuming grains, legumes, dairy and processed foods. The diet consists mainly of lean meat (about 45-65% of the total calorie intake), non-starchy vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts.

20A Wyoming mountain range : TETONS

The Teton Range is located just to the south of Yellowstone National Park, and is part of the Rocky Mountains. The origins of the name “Teton” are not very clear, although one story is that it was named by French trappers, as the word “tetons” in French is a slang term meaning “breasts”.

23A Tax pro : CPA

Certified public accountant (CPA)

24A Primer mes del año : ENERO

In Spanish, the “primer mes del año” (first month of the year) is “enero” (January).

25A *Essential oil with a musky scent : PATCHOULI

Patchouli is a bushy herb in the mint family that has a heavy, strong scent. The essential oil from patchouli is used in incense, insect repellants and some alternative medicines. The plant’s name comes from a Tamil word meaning “green leaf”.

28A Myrmecology subject : ANT

The study of ants is known as myrmecology. The term “myrmecology” derives from the Greek “myrmex” meaning “ant”.

29A Bonfire remains : ASH

Back in the mid-1500s, a “bonfire” was a fire used for burning bones, a “bone fire”.

36A Ruminant’s mouthful : CUD

Ruminants are animals that “chew the cud”. They eat vegetable matter but cannot extract any nutritional value from cellulose without the help of microbes in the gut. Ruminants collect roughage in the first part of the alimentary canal, allowing microbes to work on it. The partially digested material (the cud) is regurgitated into the mouth so that the ruminant can chew the food more completely, exposing more surface area for microbes to do their work. We also use the verb “to ruminate” in a figurative sense, to mean “to muse, ponder, chew over”.

37A Secondary social media account : ALT

An “alt” is an “alternate” social media account, a secondary profile used to navigate the Internet with a bit more privacy or a different focus than one’s primary persona. A concept that might be helpful or harmful, I’d say …

47A Preposition in “The Star-Spangled Banner” : O’ER

The words “o’er the land of the free” come from the US national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key.

48A Palindromic kitchen brand : OXO

Entrepreneur Sam Farber founded OXO in 1990 after watching his wife struggle to use a vegetable peeler because of her arthritis. He pioneered the “Universal Design” philosophy, creating products like push-button POP containers that are easy for everyone to handle, regardless of hand strength.

49A *Academy Award, e.g. : STATUETTE

Legend has it that actor Emilio Fernández was the model for the Oscar statuette. Cedric Gibbons, art director at MGM, created the design and supposedly convinced a reluctant Fernández to pose nude for “Oscar”.

51A ___ Taco (ice cream treat) : CHOCO

A Choco Taco is an elaborate ice cream dessert that was created in the eighties by the Jack and Jill Ice Cream Company in Philadelphia.

53A The “S” of macOS: Abbr. : SYS

Apple introduced the OS X Operating System in 2000. Each version of this operating system has had a code name, and that code name until recently has been a type of big cat. The versions and code names are:

• 10.0: Cheetah
• 10.1: Puma
• 10.2: Jaguar
• 10.3: Panther
• 10.4: Tiger
• 10.5: Leopard
• 10.6: Snow Leopard
• 10.7: Lion
• 10.8: Mountain Lion
• 10.9: Mavericks
• 10.10: Yosemite
• 10.11: El Capitan
• 10.12: macOS Sierra
• 10.13: macOS High Sierra

55A Bubble tea bubbles : PEARLS

Bubble tea, sometimes called “boba tea”, is a tea-based drink from Taiwan. The “bubbles” are chewy tapioca balls that are usually added to the drink.

56A Some first responders, for short : EMTS

Emergency medical technician (EMT)

61A Director Johnson of the “Knives Out” movies : RIAN

Filmmaker Rian Johnson wrote and directed quite a few major films, including “Looper” (2012), “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (2017), as well as the highly successful “Knives Out” franchise that he wrote and directed.

65A Packs (down), as tobacco in a pipe : TAMPS

To tamp is to pack down tightly by tapping. “Tamp” was originally used specifically to describe the action of packing down sand or dirt around an explosive prior to detonation.

66A Iditarod conveyance : SLED

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race covers an incredible 1,161 miles, from Anchorage to Nome in Alaska. The race starts every year on the first Saturday in March, with the first race having been held in 1973. Finishing times range from over 8 days to 15 days or more. The first few races only used a northern route, but then a southern route was added to the roster every second year. It’s kind of a good thing, because when the racers take the northern route they don’t even pass through the town of Iditarod!

Down

3D Six-line poems : SESTETS

A sestet is a group of six lines of poetry. It is similar to a quatrain, a group of four lines.

9D Skill needed to solve a sudoku puzzle : LOGIC

Number puzzles similar to our modern-day Sudoku first appeared in French newspapers in the late 1800s. The format that we use today was created by Howard Garns, a 74-year-old freelance puzzle constructor from Connersville, Indiana, and first published in 1979. The format was introduced in Japan in 1984 and given the title of “Sūji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, which translates to “the digits are limited to one occurrence”. The rather elaborate Japanese title was eventually shortened to Sudoku. No doubt many of you are fans of Sudoku puzzles. I know I am …

12D Muss and fuss : HOOPLA

The word “hoopla” means “boisterous excitement”. The term probably comes from “houp-là”, something the French say instead of “upsy-daisy”. Then again, “upsy-daisy” probably isn’t something said very often here in the US …

18D 1969 “bed-in” participant : ONO

John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a very public honeymoon in a hotel in Amsterdam and then Montreal, when they staged their famous “bed-in” for peace. In answering questions from reporters, Lennon found himself often repeating the words “give peace a chance”. While still in bed, he composed his famous song “Give Peace a Chance” and even made the original recording of the song in the Montreal hotel room, with reporters present, and with a whole bunch of friends. The song was released later in 1969 and became a smash hit. Writing credit was initially given to Lennon-McCartney, as was the agreement between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Later versions of the song were credited just to Lennon, even though Lennon stated that Yoko Ono actually wrote the song with him.

26D Sun Devils’ sch. : ASU

Arizona State University (ASU) has a long history, and was founded as the Tempe Normal School for the Arizona Territory in 1885. The athletic teams of ASU used to be known as the Normals, then the Bulldogs, and since 1946 they’ve been called the Sun Devils.

27D “Straight ___ Compton” (1989 N.W.A album) : OUTTA

“Straight Outta Compton” was the first album by N.W.A. N.W.A was a hip hop group from Compton, California. The original five group members included rappers who have made a name for themselves as solo acts, including Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. The story of N.W.A is told in a 2015 film, also called “Straight Outta Compton”.

33D Artistic visionary : AUTEUR

We use the term “auteur” to describe a film director with a distinctive style, and someone who is distinguished enough to overcome the influence of a movie studio and other commercial pressures. Examples often cited are Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks and Jean Renoir. “Auteur” is a French word meaning “author”.

34D Org. mentioned in many zombie movies : CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

A zombie is a corpse that has been brought back to life by some mystical means. Our modern use of the term largely stems from the undead creatures featured in the 1968 horror movie called “Night of the Living Dead”. Now that film I haven’t seen, and probably never will …

35D Evian, Perrier or Badoit : EAU

Évian-les-Bains (or simply “Évian”) is in the very east of France, on the shores of Lake Geneva directly across the lake from Lausanne, Switzerland. As one might imagine, Évian is the home of Évian mineral water, the most successful business in town. Personally, I can’t stand the distinctive taste of Évian water …

Perrier is bottled from spring water that is naturally carbonated. The natural carbonation is lost during the purification process, and so has to be restored artificially before bottling. The spring used by Perrier is in the South of France, and has been used since Roman times as a spa.

39D Sweaty stretching session : HOT YOGA

Hot yoga is performed under relatively hot and humid conditions. The actual temperature and humidity levels are often chosen to resemble those found in India, where yoga originated.

46D Hinder : STYMIE

The word “stymie” comes from golf, and is a situation in which one’s approach to the hole is blocked by an opponent’s ball. We use the term more broadly as a verb to describe standing in the way of something.

51D Letter that can take a cedilla : CEE

A cedilla is a diacritical mark found under the letter C in many French words, as in “garçon” and “façade”.

57D Its alums include Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, in brief : SNL

Comedian and actress Tina Fey was born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. She is perhaps best known to television viewers as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” (1997-2006), and as the creator and star of the sitcom “30 Rock” (2006-2013).

Amy Poehler was a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” from 2001 to 2008, notable for appearing in many great sketches, including those where she played Hillary Clinton opposite Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin. Poehler also starred with Fey in the 2008 movie “Baby Mama”. Poehler also led the cast of the sitcom “Parks and Recreation” for its seven-season run.