1022-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 22 Oct 15, Thursday

Note:
Because I solve on my computer, the numbering of clues in my crossword today is different than that in the print version. Apologies for any inconvenience.

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Tracy Gray
THEME: Potholes … our grid has a few “POTHOLES” today. Our themed answers each contain the hidden word CAR, but that CAR has fallen into a pothole. The result is that the letter A in the word CAR has dropped to the line below:

60A. Road hazards … four of which are illustrated literally in this puzzle : POTHOLES

14A. Recognition from the Academy : OSCAR NOD
22A. Flan : CREME CARAMEL
36A. Place for pre-20th century medicines : APOTHECARY’S SHOP
46A. “How to Win Friends and Influence People” writer : DALE CARNEGIE

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 11m 53s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. [I crack myself up] : LOL
Laugh out loud (LOL, in text-speak)

4. Sparkling wine : ASTI
Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.

14. Recognition from the Academy : OSCAR NOD
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is the organization that gives the annual Academy Awards also known as the “Oscars”. The root of the name “Oscar” is hotly debated, but what is agreed is that the award was officially named “Oscar” in 1939. The first Academy Awards were presented at a brunch in 1929 with an audience of just 29 people. The Awards ceremony is a slightly bigger event these days …

16. Japanese dish whose name means, literally, “eel bowl” : UNADON
Unagi is the Japanese word for freshwater eel, and unadon is the Japanese word for “eel bowl”. Unadon is actually a contraction of “unagi no kabayaki” (grilled eel) and “donburi” (rice bowl dish).

17. Predecessor of Chuck Schumer as New York senator : AL D’AMATO
Al D’Amato was a former Republican Senator who represented the state of New York from 1981 to 1999. Outside of politics, D’Amato is big into poker and is chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, an organization that fights for the rights of poker players in the US, mainly the right to play poker online.

19. Many a Mideast native : SEMITE
The word “Semitic” comes from the Greek for Shem, one of the three sons of Noah. A Semite is one of a large list of peoples, from the Assyrians and Babylonians to the Hebrews. The term “anti-Semite” however, almost always refer to anti-Jewish sentiment.

25. Tart English jelly fruit : SLOE
The sloe is the fruit of the blackthorn bush, and the main flavoring ingredient in sloe gin.

28. Several Asian lands, informally : STANS
The suffix “-stan” in many place names is Persian for “place of”. One example is “Pakistan”, the Place of the Pure. “Pakistan” is a relatively recent name, first coined in 1933. It comes from the abbreviation PAKSTAN, standing for Punjab – Afghan Province – Kashmir – Sindh – BaluchisTAN, all regions in the north of India. The “I” was added to Pakistan to make it easier to pronounce, and to fit the translation “Land of the Pure”.

30. Like the terms “mailman” and “comedienne,” say : NOT PC
To be “un-PC” is to be politically incorrect, not be politically correct (PC).

32. Carol opener : O COME
The lovely hymn “Adeste Fideles” (translated from Latin as “O Come, All Ye Faithful”) was written by one John Francis Wade in the 13th century. Well, he wrote the original four verses, with four more verses being added over time.

33. Budget overseer, for short : CFO
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

36. Place for pre-20th century medicines : APOTHECARY’S SHOP
Nowadays, we would call an apothecary a pharmacist. “Apotecaire” is an Old French word from the 13th century meaning simply “storekeeper”.

41. They hunt in pods : ORCAS
The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name “orca”, rather than “killer whale”, is becoming more and more common. The Latin word “Orcinus” means “belonging to Orcus”, with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.

44. Warrant officer : BOSUN
A boatswain works on the deck of a boat. A boatswain is unlicensed, and so is not involved in the navigation or handling of the vessel. He or she has charge of the other unlicensed workers on the deck. Boatswain is pronounced “bosun” and this phonetic spelling is often used interchangeably with “boatswain”. The contraction “bo’s’n” is also very popular.

46. “How to Win Friends and Influence People” writer : DALE CARNEGIE
Dale Carnegie wrote and lectured on self-improvement. His most famous book is “How to Win Friends and influence People”, which was first published in 1936. Carnegie made the clever move of changing the spelling of his family name from “Carnagey”. In so doing, he used the goodwill associated with the name of industrialist Andrew Carnegie who was much revered at the time, even though there was no relation. Dale even rented Carnegie Hall and delivered a lecture to a full house.

53. “___ Best” (2001 greatest hits album) : ARETHA’S
I think Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, had a tough life. Franklin had her first son when she was just 13-years-old, and her second at 15. In 2008, “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked Franklin as number one in their list of the greatest singers of all time.

55. F-14 fighters : TOMCATS
The F-14 Tomcat was the US Navy’s primary fighter from 1974 to 2006, and was the airplane that featured in the movie “Top Gun”.

60. Road hazards … four of which are illustrated literally in this puzzle : POTHOLES
The term “potholes” was originally reserved for geological features, deep holes found in glaciers and gravel beds. Starting in the early 1900s, the term was used to describe holes in a road.

61. As a group : EN BLOC
To do something “en bloc” is to do it all together. “En bloc” is French for “in a block, lump”.

62. Golden rule word : UNTO
The Golden Rule is also known as the ethic of reciprocity, and is a basis for the concept of human rights. A version of the rule used in the Christian tradition is attributed to Jesus: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

65. Two-hour-and-10-min. exam : PSAT
Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)

Down
1. “Kitsch” or “kindergarten,” from German : LOAN
“Kitsch” is a German word, an adjective that means “gaudy, trash”.

“Kindergarten” is a German term, literally meaning “children’s garden”. The term was coined by the German education authority Friedrich Fröbel in 1837, when he used it as the name for his play and activity institute that he created for young children to use before they headed off to school. His thought was that children should be nourished educationally, like plants in a garden.

2. Location for Munch’s “The Scream” : OSLO
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian expressionist, most famous for his painting “The Scream”, painted in 1893. What a wonderful work that is, a true representation of expressionism. The Munch Museum in Oslo is dedicated to his work and life. In 2004, two of Munch’s paintings, “The Scream” and “Madonna”, were stolen from the Munch Museum by armed robbers who subdued the museum guards. The paintings were missing for two years, but recovered in 2006.

3. Some Samsung products, for short : LCDS
Liquid crystal display (LCD)

4. Over-knight mail? : ARMOR
Mail is a type of armor that was worn as far back as 300 BCE. Mail is basically a mesh made of metal rings that are linked together and fashioned into a protective garment.

6. Log carving : TOTEM
Totem poles are large sculptures that have been carved from trees. Totem poles are part of the culture of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest of North America.

8. “Curiosity … is a ___ of the mind”: Hobbes : LUST
Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher who is perhaps best known for his 1651 book titled “Leviathan”. Hobbes popularized the concept of the social contract, the principle that individuals could organize into groups for mutual protection and welfare, while granting some authority of the group over the individual.

10. Venomous African snakes : MAMBAS
The mamba, and most famously the black mamba, is a highly venomous snake that used to be responsible for a great number of fatalities before anti-venoms became available. Mamba venom is a deadly mix of neurotoxins that attack the nervous system, and cardiotoxins that attack the heart so a bite, if left untreated, causes the lungs and the heart to shut down.

12. Funny Fields : TOTIE
Totie Fields was the stage name of comedienne Sophie Feldman. “Totie” is a corruption of “Sophie” and was the nickname she was given as a child.

13. Part of a fishing line to which the hook is attached : SNELL
A snell is a length of thin line that connects a fishhook to heavier line.

21. Pitt and Penn : ACTORS
Brad Pitt’s first major role was the cowboy hitchhiker in the 1991’s “Thelma and Louise”. Pitt’s life offscreen garners as much attention as his work onscreen, it seems. The tabloids revel in the series of high-profile relationships in which he has been involved. He was engaged to Gwyneth Paltrow for a while, married to Jennifer Aniston, and he now lives with Angelina Jolie.

Actor Sean Penn is a two-time Oscar winner, for his roles in “Mystic River” released in 2003 and “Milk” released in 2008. Penn’s celebrity on screen is only matched with his fame off the screen. Apart from his “big name” marriages to singer Madonna and actress Robin Wright, Penn is also well known for political and social activism. He perhaps inherited some of his political views from his father, actor and director Leo Penn. As an actor, Leo refused to “name names” in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee and so was blacklisted in Hollywood and had to move into directing to put bread on the table. In later years as a director he gave his son Sean his first acting role, in a 1974 episode of “Little House on the Prairie”.

27. Platte tribesman : OTOE
The Otoe (also Oto) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestwards ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.

The Platte River used to be called the Nebrakier, which is an Oto word meaning “flat river”. Indeed, the state of Nebraska takes its name from “Nebrakier”. For a while it was also called the River Plate as “plate” is the French word “flat”. Later this became “Platte”, the phonetic spelling of the French “plate”.

29. With 63-Across, best-selling Chinese-American author : AMY
(63A. See 29-Down : TAN)
Amy Tan lives not too far from here, in Sausalito just north of San Francisco. Tan is an American writer of Chinese descent whose most successful work is “The Joy Luck Club”. “The Joy Luck Club” was made into a movie produced by Oliver Stone in 1993. The novel and movie tell of four Chinese-American immigrant families in San Francisco who start the Joy Luck Club, a group playing Mahjong for money and eating delicious food.

33. Mint family plant harvested for its seeds : CHIA
Chia is a flowering plant in the mint family. Chia seeds are an excellent food source and are often added to breakfast cereals and energy bars. There is also the famous Chia Pet, an invention of a San Francisco company. Chia Pets are terracotta figurines to which are applied moistened chia seeds. The seeds sprout and the seedlings become the “fur” of the Chia Pet.

37. Places to which people are always rushing, for short : ERS
Emergency rooms (ERs)

39. Seattle’s ___ Field : SAFECO
Safeco Field is the home of the Seattle Mariners. Safeco Insurance was the highest bidder when it came to christening the new stadium opened in 1999, paying $40m for a 20-year contract.

42. Curry or Taylor : ANN
The television journalist Ann Curry is perhaps best known for the time she spent as co-host on NBC’s “Today” show. NBC executives asked Curry to resign from the “Today” show because ratings were low. I just read online that Curry was also pushed out because of the way she insisted on dressing and because she refused to dye her gray hair. I hope that isn’t true …

There was no actual person called Ann Taylor associated with the Ann Taylor line of clothes. The name was chosen by the marketing professionals because “Ann” was considered to be “very New England” back in 1954 when the stores first opened, and “Taylor” suggested that clothes were carefully “tailored”.

44. They’re nuts : BETELS
The betel nut is something that is chewed, especially in parts of Asia. “Betel nut” is a bit of misnomer, as the nut in question is actually an Areca nut from the Areca palm. For chewing, the Areca nut is wrapped in betel leaves and the whole thing is called a “betel nut”.

46. Women who are entitled : DAMES
In modern Britain, the title of “dame” is the equivalent of “knight”.

50. Jackets traditionally worn with bow ties : ETONS
An Eton jacket is usually black, cut square at the hips and has wide lapels. It is named for the design of jacket that is worn by the younger students at Eton College just outside London.

51. The Black Eyed Peas’ “I ___ Feeling” : GOTTA
The hip hop group known as the Black Eyed Peas comprises three rap artist will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo, as well as the singer Fergie.

54. Gas giant since 1966 : ARCO
ARCO stands for Atlantic Richfield Company. One of ARCO’s claims to fame is that it is responsible for the nation’s largest Superfund site. Mining and smelting in the area around Butte, Montana polluted the region’s water and soil, and ARCO have agreed to pay $187 million to help clean up the area.

56. Alicia Keys or Adele, e.g. : ALTO
Alicia Keys is the stage name of Alicia Cook, an R&B and soul singer from Hell’s Kitchen in New York City.

57. Water-resistant timber : TEAK
Teak is a hardwood tree in the mint family, commonly found in monsoon forests of Asia.

58. Phishing targets, for short : SSNS
Social Security Number (SSN)

Phishing is the name given to the online practice of stealing usernames, passwords and credit card details by creating a site that deceptively looks reliable and trustworthy. Phishers often send out safe-looking emails or instant messages that direct someone to an equally safe-looking website where the person might inadvertently enter sensitive information. “Phishing” is a play on the word “fishing”, as in “fishing for passwords, PIN numbers etc.”

60. Baby shark : PUP
Apparently male sharks are referred to as “bulls” or just “males”. Female sharks are only known as “females”. The offspring of sharks are referred to as “pups”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. [I crack myself up] : LOL
4. Sparkling wine : ASTI
8. City ___ : LIMITS
14. Recognition from the Academy : OSCAR NOD
16. Japanese dish whose name means, literally, “eel bowl” : UNADON
17. Predecessor of Chuck Schumer as New York senator : AL D’AMATO
19. Many a Mideast native : SEMITE
20. 0-0 : NO SCORE
21. Hot and bubbling : AT A BOIL
22. Flan : CREME CARAMEL
25. Tart English jelly fruit : SLOE
28. Several Asian lands, informally : STANS
30. Like the terms “mailman” and “comedienne,” say : NOT PC
32. Carol opener : O COME
33. Budget overseer, for short : CFO
36. Place for pre-20th century medicines : APOTHECARY’S SHOP
40. Word before “I dunno” : GEE
41. They hunt in pods : ORCAS
43. Adulterate : TAINT
44. Warrant officer : BOSUN
45. They’re only in for a while : FADS
46. “How to Win Friends and Influence People” writer : DALE CARNEGIE
53. “___ Best” (2001 greatest hits album) : ARETHA’S
55. F-14 fighters : TOMCATS
59. Metaphor for a blazing success : METEOR
60. Road hazards … four of which are illustrated literally in this puzzle : POTHOLES
61. As a group : EN BLOC
62. Golden rule word : UNTO
63. See 29-Down : TAN
64. States with authority : SAYS SO
65. Two-hour-and-10-min. exam : PSAT
66. Authorizes : OKS

Down
1. “Kitsch” or “kindergarten,” from German : LOAN
2. Location for Munch’s “The Scream” : OSLO
3. Some Samsung products, for short : LCDS
4. Over-knight mail? : ARMOR
5. Game stopper? : SNARE
6. Log carving : TOTEM
7. Swear words? : I DO
8. “Curiosity … is a ___ of the mind”: Hobbes : LUST
9. Sincerely : IN EARNEST
10. Venomous African snakes : MAMBAS
11. “Dark horse” or “bring to light” : IDIOM
12. Funny Fields : TOTIE
13. Part of a fishing line to which the hook is attached : SNELL
18. Live with : ACCEPT
21. Pitt and Penn : ACTORS
23. Keyboard abbr. : ESC
25. Hitch : SNAG
26. Not a full-out run : LOPE
27. Platte tribesman : OTOE
29. With 63-Across, best-selling Chinese-American author : AMY
31. Tots’ trains : CHOO-CHOOS
32. Transpires : OCCURS
33. Mint family plant harvested for its seeds : CHIA
34. Like some farewells : FOND
35. Decides (to) : OPTS
37. Places to which people are always rushing, for short : ERS
39. Seattle’s ___ Field : SAFECO
42. Curry or Taylor : ANN
44. They’re nuts : BETELS
46. Women who are entitled : DAMES
47. Fan setting : ARENA
48. Allow to pass : LET BY
50. Jackets traditionally worn with bow ties : ETONS
51. The Black Eyed Peas’ “I ___ Feeling” : GOTTA
52. Comment while fanning oneself : I’M HOT
54. Gas giant since 1966 : ARCO
56. Alicia Keys or Adele, e.g. : ALTO
57. Water-resistant timber : TEAK
58. Phishing targets, for short : SSNS
60. Baby shark : PUP

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2 thoughts on “1022-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 22 Oct 15, Thursday”

  1. Sixteen minutes, twenty-eight seconds; no errors, but I didn't understand the theme until I came here and found the explanation. (I saw that, in each case, there was a missing "A", but I didn't notice the "C" and "R" on either side of it and the "A" below it.) I also thought the "Hobbes" of 8D must refer to a certain tiger from the comics page, not the philosopher … 🙂

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