1120-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 20 Nov 16, Sunday

QuickLinks:
Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
Solution to today’s SYNDICATED New York Times crossword in all other publications
Solution to today’s New York Times crossword found online at the Seattle Times website
Jump to a complete list of today’s clues and answers

CROSSWORD SETTER: Ed Sessa
THEME: Cross References
Today’s themed answers come in pairs, with one across-answer CROSSING one down-answer. One answer in each pair is a body of water, and the crossing answer is the name of a famous person who CROSSED that body of water:

43A. Famous crosser of the 12-Down : LINDBERGH
12D. See 43-Across : ATLANTIC

66A. Famous crosser of the 45-Down : MOSES
45D. See 66-Across : RED SEA

109A. Famous crosser of the 90-Down : WASHINGTON
90D. See 109-Across : DELAWARE

2D. Famous crosser of the 39-Across : MAGELLAN
39A. See 2-Down : PACIFIC

62D. Famous crosser of the 70-Across : MAO
70A. See 62-Down : YANGTZE

86D. Famous crosser of the 115-Across : NAPOLEON
115A. See 86-Down : BEREZINA

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 24m 05s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2

  • BEREZINA (Beremina)
  • ZOE (Moe)

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

7. Signed notes : CHITS
A chit is a note or a short letter. The term tends to be used these days in the sense of an amount owed (as in a poker game). The word used to be “chitty”, which is now obsolete but was closer to the original Hindi term. I feel a tad obsolete myself because when we are at school we would be excused class if we had a “chitty”.

20. Civil rights activist ___ Helen Burroughs : NANNIE
Nannie Helen Burroughs was an African-American civil rights activist and teacher who was active in the first half of the 20th century. Burroughs is remembered for a life spent fighting for civil rights, and in particular for a speech she delivered at the National Baptist Convention in 1900 known as “How the Sisters Are Hindered from Helping”.

21. Place for a home pool, maybe : LANAI
A lanai is a type of veranda, a design that originated in Hawaii. A kind blog reader tells me that the etymology of “lanai” seems unclear, but that the island name of “Lana’i” is not related.

23. What Bart Simpson has been since 1989 : AGE TEN
Bart Simpson is the main character in television’s “The Simpsons”. Bart’s name was chosen by the writers as it is an anagram of “brat”. Bart is voiced by actress and comedian Nancy Cartwright.

25. One of the Borgias : LUCREZIA
The Borgias were a Papal family that was very prominent during the Renaissance in Europe. Two of the Borgias became popes, namely Pope Calixtus III and Pope Alexander VI. Pope Alexander VI had several children, including Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia. Cesare became a cardinal, and was the first cardinal to resign from the post. Lucrezia earned a reputation as a femme fatale, and as such turns up in many artworks, novels and movies.

26. Rap’s Salt-N-___ : PEPA
Salt-n-Pepa are an all-female hip hop trio from New York, made up of “Salt” (Cheryl James), “Pepa” (Sandra Denton) and “DJ Spinderella” (Deidra Roper). Their 1991 song “Let’s Talk Sex” created quite a fuss as the lyrics explored the subject of sex, and safe sex in particular. A later version addressed the dangers of AIDS.

30. Wham-O toy introduced in 1961 : SLIP’N SLIDE
Wham-O was founded in 1948, with the company’s first product being the Wham-O slingshot. Since then, Wham-O has market a string of hit toys including the Hula Hoop, the Frisbee, the Slip‘N Slide, Silly String, the Hacky Sack and the Boogie Board.

34. Some break dancers, informally : B-BOYS
A “b-boy” is a male fan of rap-music and breakdancing. Apparently the term comes from either “Bronx boy” or “break boy”.

43. Famous crosser of the 12-Down : LINDBERGH
(12D. See 43-Across : ATLANTIC)
Charles Lindbergh was the American pilot who made the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of nearly 3,600 miles. He won the accolades of a whole country for that feat, and was awarded the Medal of Honor (for which Lindbergh was eligible, as an Army Reserve officer). His new-found fame brought tragedy to his door, however, when a kidnapper took his infant son from his home in East Amwell, New Jersey. A ransom was paid in part, but the child was never returned, and was found dead a few weeks later. It was as a result of this case that Congress made kidnapping a federal offence should there be any aspect of the crime that crosses a state line.

49. It’s easy to park : SMART CAR
“smart cars” are manufactured by Daimler AG, the same company that makes Mercedes-Benz automobiles. The smart car was developed in cooperation with the wristwatch brand Swatch. The name “smart” (always in lower-case letters) stands for Swatch Mercedes ART.

51. Euro pop? : PERE
“Père” is the French for “father”.

52. Baghdad’s ___ City : SADR
Sadr City is a suburb of Baghdad, oft in the news in recent years. Sadr City is named after the deceased Shia leader Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr.

53. Highway infraction, for short : DUI
In some states, there is no longer a legal difference between a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) and a DUI (Driving Under the Influence). Other states retain that difference, so that by definition a DUI is a lesser offence than a DWI.

54. Zuo Zongtang, a.k.a. General ___ : TSO
General Tso’s chicken is an American creation, often found on the menu of a Chinese restaurant. The name General Tso may be a reference to General Zuo Zongtang of the Qing Dynasty, but there is no clear link.

56. “Vox populi, vox ___” : DEI
“Vox populi, vox Dei” is a Latin expression that translates as, “The voice of the people, the voice of God”, meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.

57. Biblical figure referred to as a “son of the desert” : ESAU
Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins “the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)”. As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father’s wealth (it was his “birthright”). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a “mess of pottage” (a meal of lentils).

60. Blue Moon ___, three-time World Series winner for the 1970s A’s : ODOM
Blue Moon Odom’s real name was Johnny Lee Odom, and he was a pitcher for the Oakland Athletics. With the A’s, Odom won three consecutive World Series, from 1972 to 1974.

66. Famous crosser of the 45-Down : MOSES
(45D. See 66-Across : RED SEA)
Moses is an important prophet in Christianity and Islam, and the most important prophet in Judaism. It fell to Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt across the Red Sea. He was given the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, and then wandered the desert with his people for forty years. Moses then died within sight of the Promised Land.

68. Ben who played the Wizard in Broadway’s “Wicked” : VEREEN
Ben Vereen is an American actor and dancer who is probably best known for playing Chicken George in the magnificent television miniseries “Roots”. When he was applying for a passport in the sixties, Vereen discovered that he was adopted. He then went looking for his birth parents and identified his birth mother (who had passed away by this time). She went away on a trip when Ben was very young only to return and find that her child and the person minding him had disappeared. She never saw her son again.

77. Fourth-largest news agency in the world : TASS
TASS is the abbreviation used for the former news agency that had the full name Telegraph Association of the Soviet Union (Telegrafnoe Agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza). When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1992, the Moscow-based agency’s scope changed along with its name. It is now known as the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS).

78. “Rugrats” baby : DIL
Tommy Pickles is the protagonist on the Nickelodeon cartoon show “Rugrats”. Dil Pickles is Tommy’s younger brother.

81. Abbr. seen in some dictionary definitions : ESP
Especially (esp.)

85. Flair : ELAN
Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours, i.e “style” or “flair”.

99. “The Tell-Tale Heart” author : POE
Edgar Allan Poe’s story “The Tell-Tale Heart”, is arguably one of his most disturbing works. It is a story of cold-blooded and premeditated murder, with some dismemberment thrown in for good measure.

111. Airline with famously tight security : EL AL
El Al Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of Israel. The term “el al” translates from Hebrew as “to the skies”. The company started operations in 1948, with a flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv.

117. May 8, 1945 : V-E DAY
World War II started in 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) was celebrated on 8 May 1945, when the German military surrendered in Berlin. V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day) was celebrated on 2 September 1945 when the Japanese signed the surrender document aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

121. Civil rights leader Medgar : EVERS
Medgar Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi who was assassinated by the Klu Klux Klan in 1963. A year after the murder, one Byron De La Beckwith was arrested and charged with the crime. Two trials failed to return a decision on Beckwith’s guilt as the juries, composed completely of white males, deadlocked both times. New evidence was unearthed some thirty years later so Beckwith could be retried and he was finally convicted of the murder in 1994. Back in 1963 Evers was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. Evers had served in the US Army in France during WWII and left the military with the rank of sergeant.

124. Bullpen setting : RODEO
“Rodeo” is a Spanish word that is usually translated as “round up”.

125. Coral reef predators : MORAYS
Morays are a large group of about 200 species of eels found across the world’s oceans. They are carnivorous and look pretty scary but they’re quite shy when confronted and present no threat to humans. One interesting thing about morays is that they will sometimes work in cooperation with the grouper fish found in reefs, the two helping each other hunt for food.

Down
2. Famous crosser of the 39-Across : MAGELLAN
(39A. See 2-Down : PACIFIC)
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who was hired by King Charles I of Spain to find a westward route to the “Spice Islands”, now known as the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. Magellan headed west through the Atlantic starting out in 1519. He passed south of the Americas through was is now called the Strait of Magellan. The body of water he encountered west of the Americas he named the “peaceful sea”, the Pacific Ocean. He and his expedition reached the Spice Islands in 1521, and returned home via the Indian Ocean. This voyage was the first circumnavigation of the globe in history.

5. 7-up, e.g. : TIE
I had no idea how this answer “ties” in with the clue, until kind blog readers informed me that in the sporting world “7-up” can mean “tied at 7 apiece”.

11. Earthy color : SIENNA
The shade known as “sienna” or “burnt sienna” was originally a pigment made from earth found around Siena in Tuscany.

13. Milk shaker? : CHURN
Butter churns are devices that convert cream into butter. The churn agitates the cream mechanically, disrupting milk fat. Clumps of disrupted milk fat form larger and larger fat globules. Eventually, the mixture separates into solid butter and liquid buttermilk.

14. Letters teachers send to colleges, informally : RECS
Recommendation (rec.)

15. Yossarian’s tentmate in “Catch-22” : ORR
Captain John Yossarian is the protagonist in Joseph Heller’s novel “Catch 22”. Yossarian’s story is based on the author’s own experiences when stationed in Italy during World War II.

16. Sound from the Road Runner : BEEP BEEP!
Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner are two much-loved cartoon characters from Warner Bros. Wile E. Coyote was created first, and Road Runner was invented as someone for Wile E. to play off. I love this cartoon; definitely one of the best …

17. W.W. II beachhead : ANZIO
The WWII Battle of Anzio is famous for being one of the most terrible blunders in military history. Operation Shingle was a surprise amphibious landing at Anzio, 35 miles south of Rome, designed to outflank the Germans and press home an attack on the Italian capital. The element of surprise allowed a safe landing at Anzio, and the allies were able to drive jeeps right into the outskirts of Rome unchallenged. But that element of surprise was lost when Allied commander General John Lucas decided to delay the march on Rome until he had consolidated his position on the beaches, a position that was surrounded by high ground. The Germans used the delay to throw everything they had into the high ground and the allies were pinned down in a bloody battle. As a result, it took four months for the allies to fight their way inland.

18. Hoity-___ : TOITY
Believe it or not, the term “hoity-toity” has been in the English language since the 1660s, but back then it meant “riotous behavior”. It began to mean “haughty” in the late 1800s, simply because the “haughty” sounds similar to “hoity”.

31. Commerce pact mentioned in the 2016 presidential debates : NAFTA
The European Economic Community (EEC) was also called “the Common Market”. The EEC was a NAFTA-like structure that was eventually absorbed into today’s European Union (EU).

37. Chivalrous deeds : BEAUX GESTES
“Beau geste” (plural “beaux gestes”) is a French term meaning “noble deed”, or literally “beautiful gesture”.

42. Iraq War subj. : WMD
The first recorded use of the term “Weapon of Mass Destruction” (WMD) was in 1937. The words were used by Cosmo Gordon Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, in reference to the bombardment of Guernica in Spain during the Spanish Civil War by the German Luftwaffe. He said, “Who can think without horror of what another widespread war would mean, waged as it would be with all the new weapons of mass destruction?”

44. D.C. nine : NATS
The Washington Nationals (“The Nats”) baseball team started out life as the Montreal Expos in 1969. The Expos moved to Washington in 2005 becoming the Nats. There are only two Major Leagues teams that have never played in a World Series, one being the Mariners and the other the Nats.

55. Mantra syllables : OMS
“Om” is a sacred mystic word from the Hindu tradition. “Om” is sometimes used as a mantra, a focus for the mind in meditation.

61. Olive ___ (Popeye’s gal) : OYL
“Thimble Theater” was the precursor comic strip to the famous “Popeye” drawn by E. C. Segar. Before Popeye came into the story, the brother and sister characters Castor Oyl and Olive Oyl were the protagonists. And then along comes a sailor …

64. 9mm gun : UZI
The first Uzi submachine gun was designed in the late 1940s by Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal of the Israel Defense Forces, who gave his name to the gun.

65. Main character on “How I Met Your Mother” : TED
“How I Met Your Mother” is a sitcom that CBS has been airing since 2005. The main character is Ted Mosby, played by Josh Radnor. Mosby is also the narrator for the show looking back from the year 2030 (the live action is set in the present). As narrator, the older Mosby character is voiced by Bob Saget.

72. Long Island campus : ADELPHI
Adelphi University is located in Garden City, New York on Long Island. The university started out as Adelphi Academy in Brooklyn in 1863. By 1929, the academy had moved to Garden City and was a woman’s college. Adelphi reverted to co-education after WWII when it admitted many students under the GI Bill.

82. Something observed in church : PEW
A pew is a bench in a church, usually with a high back. The original pews were raised and sometimes enclosed seats in the church used by women and important men or families. “Pew” comes from the Old French “puie” meaning “balcony, elevation”.

93. Field for Alfred Kinsey : SEXOLOGY
Alfred Kinsey sure did create a stir with his work and publications. He founded the Institute for Sex Research in 1947, and published the famous “Kinsey Reports” in 1948 and 1953. I enjoyed the 2004 biopic “Kinsey”, starring Irish actor Liam Neeson in the title role.

95. Trinity part : SON
In the Christian tradition, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three persons in One Divine Being, the Holy Trinity.

98. Supports the Red Cross, say : DONATES
Back in 1859, a Swiss businessman called Henri Dunant went to meet French emperor Napoleon III, to discuss making it easier to conduct commerce in French-occupied Algeria. The Emperor was billeted at Solferino, where France and Austria were engaged in a major battle. In one day, Dunant witnessed 40,000 soldiers die in battle and countless wounded suffering on the battlefield without any organized medical care. Dunant abandoned his business agenda and instead spent a week caring for the sick and wounded. Within a few years he had founded the precursor to the Red Cross, and in 1901 he was awarded the first ever Nobel Peace Prize.

113. “Whip It” band : DEVO
Devo is a band from Akron, Ohio formed back in 1973. The band’s biggest hit is “Whip It” released in 1980. Devo have a gimmick: the wearing of red, terraced plastic hats that are referred to as “energy domes”. Why? I have no idea …

116. Actress Saldana : ZOE
American actress Zoë Saldana played the Na’vi princess in “Avatar”, and Uhura in the 2009 movie “Star Trek” (and sequels). Saldana seems to pick the right movies, as she is the only actress to have three different films in the top twenty at the box office for three consecutive weeks (“Avatar”, “The Losers” and “Death at a Funeral”).

119. Yoko from Tokyo : ONO
Yoko Ono was born into a prosperous Japanese family, and is actually a descendant of one of the emperors of Japan. Her father moved around the world for work, and she lived the first few years of her life in San Francisco. The family returned to Japan, before moving on to New York, Hanoi and back to Japan just before WWII, in time to live through the great fire-bombing of Tokyo in 1945. Immediately after the war the family was far from prosperous. While Yoko’s father was being held in a prison camp in Vietnam, her mother had to resort to begging and bartering to feed her children. When her father was repatriated, life started to return to normal and Yoko was able to attend university. She was the first woman to be accepted into the philosophy program of Gakushuin University.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Like good whiskey : SMOOTH
7. Signed notes : CHITS
12. They might jump through hoops for you : ACROBATS
20. Civil rights activist ___ Helen Burroughs : NANNIE
21. Place for a home pool, maybe : LANAI
22. Comforting words : THERE NOW
23. What Bart Simpson has been since 1989 : AGE TEN
24. Draw forth : EDUCE
25. One of the Borgias : LUCREZIA
26. Rap’s Salt-N-___ : PEPA
27. Bad thing to be behind : PRISON BARS
29. Shame : PITY
30. Wham-O toy introduced in 1961 : SLIP’N SLIDE
33. Late actor Bill who played Radio Raheem : NUNN
34. Some break dancers, informally : B-BOYS
35. Diminutive suffix : -ULE
36. Quickly : APACE
37. Entice : BAIT
38. Bit of fiction : LIE
39. See 2-Down : PACIFIC
41. Blow away : AWE
43. Famous crosser of the 12-Down : LINDBERGH
48. Brisk rival : NESTEA
49. It’s easy to park : SMART CAR
51. Euro pop? : PERE
52. Baghdad’s ___ City : SADR
53. Highway infraction, for short : DUI
54. Zuo Zongtang, a.k.a. General ___ : TSO
56. “Vox populi, vox ___” : DEI
57. Biblical figure referred to as a “son of the desert” : ESAU
60. Blue Moon ___, three-time World Series winner for the 1970s A’s : ODOM
63. Deletions : X-OUTS
66. Famous crosser of the 45-Down : MOSES
68. Ben who played the Wizard in Broadway’s “Wicked” : VEREEN
70. See 62-Down : YANGTZE
72. Yes vote : ASSENT
73. Fidgety : ANTSY
74. Separated by a hairbreadth : CLOSE
75. Picked as the one, say : IDED
77. Fourth-largest news agency in the world : TASS
78. “Rugrats” baby : DIL
79. Internet ___ : ERA
81. Abbr. seen in some dictionary definitions : ESP
83. Little more than : MERE
85. Flair : ELAN
87. Bugged? : INFECTED
91. Beseeches : PLEADS
94. Patron saint of soldiers and athletes : SEBASTIAN
96. Mama baaer : EWE
97. Put on : APPLIED
99. “The Tell-Tale Heart” author : POE
100. Pale purple shade : IRIS
102. Like gymnasts : LITHE
104. Outside: Prefix : EXO-
105. Spread by light strokes : DAB ON
108. “Teach” at a college : PROF
109. Famous crosser of the 90-Down : WASHINGTON
111. Airline with famously tight security : EL AL
112. Summoned from the office, say : CALLED AWAY
114. Tenerife, por ejemplo : ISLA
115. See 86-Down : BEREZINA
117. May 8, 1945 : VE DAY
118. As well : TO BOOT
120. Displaced : UPROOTED
121. Civil rights leader Medgar : EVERS
122. Fidgety : ON EDGE
123. Alms recipients : THE NEEDY
124. Bullpen setting : RODEO
125. Coral reef predators : MORAYS

Down
1. Grabs before someone else does : SNAPS UP
2. Famous crosser of the 39-Across : MAGELLAN
3. Like jumpsuits : ONE-PIECE
4. Ready to be drawn : ON TAP
5. 7-up, e.g. : TIE
6. Partridge family mother : HEN
7. Cassock wearer : CLERIC
8. Was creative : HAD IDEAS
9. Employed : IN USE
10. ___ truck : TACO
11. Earthy color : SIENNA
12. See 43-Across : ATLANTIC
13. Milk shaker? : CHURN
14. Letters teachers send to colleges, informally : RECS
15. Yossarian’s tentmate in “Catch-22” : ORR
16. Sound from the Road Runner : BEEP BEEP!
17. W.W. II beachhead : ANZIO
18. Hoity-___ : TOITY
19. Wins over : SWAYS
27. Protester’s sign : PLACARD
28. Hunky : BUILT
31. Commerce pact mentioned in the 2016 presidential debates : NAFTA
32. Surveilled : SPIED ON
34. Catcher near the plate? : BIB
37. Chivalrous deeds : BEAUX GESTES
38. C.E.O. and pres. : LDRS
40. Puts out : ISSUES
42. Iraq War subj. : WMD
44. D.C. nine : NATS
45. See 66-Across : RED SEA
46. Jill Stein’s group, with “the” : GREENS
47. Unauthorized withdrawals? : HEISTS
50. Anarchic action : RIOT
55. Mantra syllables : OMS
57. Gives the runaround : EVADES
58. In one’s dotage : SENILE
59. Schoolroom with brushes and paint : ART LAB
61. Olive ___ (Popeye’s gal) : OYL
62. Famous crosser of the 70-Across : MAO
64. 9mm gun : UZI
65. Main character on “How I Met Your Mother” : TED
67. Pertaining to bones : OSTEAL
69. Goggle at : EYE
71. Instant: Abbr. : NSEC
72. Long Island campus : ADELPHI
74. “Pretty please?” : CAN I?
76. Major theme of Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” : EMPATHY
80. Something observed in church : RITE
82. Something observed in church : PEW
84. Write again : RE-PEN
86. Famous crosser of the 115-Across : NAPOLEON
88. Damsel, to a knight : FAIR LADY
89. Register, as for a class : ENROL
90. See 109-Across : DELAWARE
92. Pepsi Max, e.g. : DIET SODA
93. Field for Alfred Kinsey : SEXOLOGY
95. Trinity part : SON
98. Supports the Red Cross, say : DONATES
101. Should that happen : IF EVER
103. Parent’s definitive “End of argument!” : I SAY SO!
105. Opening : DEBUT
106. First Hebrew letter : ALEPH
107. Wilkes-___, Pa. : BARRE
108. Like windows : PANED
109. Used hip boots, say : WADED
110. One dishing out digs : GIBER
112. Name : CITE
113. “Whip It” band : DEVO
116. Actress Saldana : ZOE
118. Certain cat : TOM
119. Yoko from Tokyo : ONO

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7 thoughts on “1120-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 20 Nov 16, Sunday”

  1. 38:15, no errors, iPad. A bit harder than the usual Sunday puzzle, I thought. The last letter I filled in was the "Z" of BEREZINA (new to me), and I got it right only because I happened to remember ZOE Saldana from "Avatar"; otherwise, I would probably have guessed at "N".

    Some other problems. I'd never heard of NANNIE Helen Burroughs or DIL Pickles (or "Rugrats", for that matter). I thought TASS was strictly a Soviet-era thing. I always thought the cartoon road runner said "Meep-meep!". And GIBER us one of those awkward words I would not expect to see outside of a crossword puzzle …

  2. 27:30, no errors. Enjoyed the theme. The BEREZINA/ZOE cross was a complete guess, based on ZOE being a popular woman's name. Got 6D HEN correct, but that was based more on an erroneous guess that HEN would be a nickname for Florence Henderson; mother of the 'Brady Bunch', not the 'Partridge Family'; always get the two shows mixed. Did not occur to me, until later, that a HEN is the mother of an actual partridge family.

    Nice Sunday morning effort.

  3. No errors. Since I have been getting these Sunday puzzles with few, if any, mistakes here lately I have realized what is making the difference for me. I have been using the technique of very frequent breaks away from the puzzle. I work the puzzle until I start slowing down and then I put it down and go off and do something else for a while. When I come back my mind is all clear and I quickly see things that I had not seen before. I repeat this cycle as many times as necessary. This technique works wonders.

    As a resident of Hawaii, I again find myself in disagreement with an entry today derived from the Hawaiian language. The clue is "Place for a home pool, maybe.". The answer is LANAI. What I take issue with is that a LANAI is not big enough for a pool. Going back to the days of thatched dwellings built by the old Hawaiians a LANAI was only about as big as a typical front porch of a modern-day house. And that remains true today even with all of our high-rise buildings. One could have a LANAI just outside of the doors to the house but that would have to open up into a full backyard in order to be big enough for a pool. I could be wrong about this but I am pretty sure that I am right.

  4. I'm wondering about 123-Across — Clue: Alms recipients; Answer: The Needy. You almost never see an answer begin with an article in NYT puzzles. That being the case, I was certain that, though "the needy" was the obvious answer, it couldn't be correct. But I was wrong. Is there some tacit understanding about using an article (a, an, the) before a noun in the answer?

  5. We'll see articles used from time to time as a way of mixing things up and keeping us off balance. It's another twist we have to take into consideration as we survey possible answers. It threw me for a while on this one. I got 99.9% of the puzzle, missing only a square here or there. I did not know "Lanai" or "Anzio" and there were one or two others. But overall it was a fun puzzle and the theme helped me solve it. I did the Sunday LA Times for the first time as well, and it is not nearly as well done.

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