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CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTOR: Gary Cee
THEME: Food!
Each of today’s themed items ends with a food item served at a meal:
17A. Gobbledygook : WORD SALAD
30A. Big fat zero : NOTHING BURGER
47A. Habitual tube watchers : COUCH POTATOES
63A. What a shamed person has to “eat” : HUMBLE PIE
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 21s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Web designer’s code : HTML
HTML is HyperText Markup Language, the language used to write most Internet web pages (including this one).
9. One includes “My cup runneth over” in the Bible : PSALM
The Greek word “psalmoi” originally meant “songs sung to a harp”, and gave us the word “psalms”. In the Jewish and Western Christian traditions, the Book of Psalms contains 150 individual psalms, divided into five sections.
15. Slight amount : IOTA
Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
17. Gobbledygook : WORD SALAD
“Gobbledygook” is pompous, officious talk. The term is the 1944 invention of US Congressman Maury Maverick from Texas. He said he wanted to come up with a word that was imitative of a turkey.
20. Scot’s cap : TAM
A tam o’shanter is a man’s cap traditionally worn by Scotsmen. “Tams” were originally all blue (and called “blue bonnets”) but as more dyes became readily available they became more colorful. The name of the cap comes from the title character of the Robert Burns poem “Tam O’Shanter”.
24. Nebraska’s capital before Lincoln : OMAHA
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska. It is located on the Missouri River, about 10 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River When Nebraska was still a territory Omaha was its capital, but when Nebraska achieved statehood the capital was moved to the city of Lincoln.
26. Grandson of Adam : ENOS
Enos was the son of Seth, and therefore the grandson of Adam and Eve. According to the ancient Jewish work called the Book of Jubilees, Enos married his own sister Noam.
27. Clock-setting std. : GMT
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time at the Prime Meridian, the meridian that runs through Greenwich in London.
34. Like Jefferson on a list of presidents : THIRD
Thomas Jefferson was the US’s first Secretary of State (under George Washington), the US’s second Vice President (under John Adams), and the US’s third president. Jefferson is a personal hero of mine, I must admit. Anyone interested in biographies of US presidents might like to read Jon Meacham’s “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power”. I highly recommend it …
35. River through Paris : SEINE
The Seine is the river that flows through Paris. The Seine empties into the English Channel to the north, at the port city of Le Havre.
39. Flower that’s also a girl’s name : PANSY
The garden flower called the pansy takes its name from the French word “pensée” meaning “thought”. This name was chosen as the flower was often used as a symbol of remembrance.
47. Habitual tube watchers : COUCH POTATOES
“Idiot box” and “boob tube” are nicknames for television.
51. Swiss peak : ALP
There are eight Alpine countries:
- Austria
- Slovenia
- France
- Switzerland
- Liechtenstein
- Germany
- Monaco
- Italy
53. Hair that hangs over the forehead : BANGS
“Bangs” is another word that caught me out when I arrived in the US. “Bangs” back in Ireland are called “a fringe”. Apparently the US term is derived from the hair on horses somehow.
61. Capital of South Korea : SEOUL
Seoul is the capital city of South Korea. The Seoul National Capital Area is home to over 25 million people and is the second largest metropolitan area in the world, second only to Tokyo, Japan.
66. Stand on three legs? : EASEL
The word “easel” comes from an old Dutch word meaning “donkey” would you believe? The idea is that an easel carries its load (an oil painting, say) just as a donkey would be made to carry a load.
Down
3. Ethel who sang “There’s No Business Like Show Business” : MERMAN
Ethel Merman was an actress and singer, one noted for having a very powerful voice. Merman was married and divorced four times, the last time to the actor Ernest Borgnine, albeit for only 32 days in 1964.
“Annie Get Your Gun” is an Irving Berlin musical, first performed on Broadway in 1946. The show is a fictionalized account of the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley. It was written as a vehicle for Ethel Merman, and when she sang the hit tune “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, she apparently brought down the house.
4. It was often dropped in the ’60s : LSD
LSD (known colloquially as “acid”) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …
5. “See ya!” : CIAO!
“Ciao” is the Italian for “‘bye”. “Arrivederci” is more formal, and translates as “goodbye”.
6. Woodchuck’s escape route : HOLE
The woodchuck is also known as the groundhog, and is one in a group of large ground squirrels called marmots. Repeat after me:
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
7. Airline app datum, for short : ETA
Expected time of arrival (ETA)
9. Flying horse of Greek myth : PEGASUS
Pegasus is a white, winged stallion of Greek mythology. Pegasus was sired by Poseidon and foaled by Medusa.
11. Notes of a chord played in rapid succession : ARPEGGIO
An arpeggio is a technique in which the notes of a chord are played in sequence, one after the other. “Arpeggio” can be translated from Italian as “broken chord”
13. Club ___ : MED
Club Méditerranée is usually referred to as “Club Med”. It is a French company that started in 1950 with a resort on the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean. It was originally a “club” with annual membership dues. Now it is an operator of numerous all-inclusive resorts located all over the world.
32. Plan that might include mutual funds, in brief : IRA
Individual retirement account (IRA)
33. Body of water that separates Africa and Asia : RED SEA
The Red Sea (sometimes called the Arabian Gulf) is a stretch of water lying between Africa and Asia. The Gulf of Suez (and the Suez Canal) lies to north, and the Gulf of Aden to the south. According to the Book of Exodus in the Bible, God parted the Red Sea to allow Moses lead the Israelites from Egypt.
36. Pet safety org. : SPCA
Unlike in most developed countries, there is no “umbrella” organization in the US with the goal of preventing cruelty to animals. Instead there are independent organizations set up all over the nation using the name SPCA. Having said that, there is an organization called the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) that was originally intended to operate across the country, but really it now focuses its efforts in New York City.
46. 2016 prize for Bob Dylan : NOBEL
The real name of singer Bob Dylan is Robert Zimmerman. Zimmerman chose that particular stage name because he was greatly influenced by the poetry of the Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas.
48. Who wrote of “sorrow for the lost Lenore” : POE
“The Raven” is a narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe that tells of a student who has lost the love of his life, Lenore. A raven enters the student’s bedchamber and perches on a bust of Pallas. The raven can talk, to the student’s surprise, but says nothing but the word “nevermore” (“quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore’”). As the student questions all aspects of his life, the raven taunts him with the same comment, “nevermore”. Finally the student decides that his soul is trapped beneath the raven’s shadow and shall be lifted “nevermore” …
49. Out-of-date : OLD HAT
The use of “old hat” to mean something “out of date, stale” started about 1911. Before that, the term “old hat” meant something very different, and very vulgar. “Old hat” was the name given to a very private part of the female anatomy, the idea being that it was “often felt” (as in a “felt hat”). I just don’t know what to say …
55. Napped leather : SUEDE
Suede is leather made from the underside of the skin, mainly from a lamb. As such it is very soft, although not as durable as leather made from the exterior skin. The soft leather was, and is still used for making gloves. Back in 1859 these gloves were called “gants de Suede” in France, or “gloves of Sweden”. So, the name “suede” comes from the French word for Sweden.
58. F.B.I. worker, informally : G-MAN
The nickname “G-men” is short for “Government Men” and refers to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
64. Celebrity psychic Geller : URI
Uri Geller’s most famous performance is perhaps his uncomfortable failure on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson in 1973. Carson “hijacked” Geller on live television by providing him with spoons to bend and watches to start, none of which had been available to Geller before the show aired. Clever!
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Web designer’s code : HTML
5. One wearing an apron and a puffy white hat : CHEF
9. One includes “My cup runneth over” in the Bible : PSALM
14. Has debts : OWES
15. Slight amount : IOTA
16. Like a wolf’s howl in the dead of night : EERIE
17. Gobbledygook : WORD SALAD
19. Looked open-mouthed : GAPED
20. Scot’s cap : TAM
21. “___ is me!” : WOE
22. Up in arms : IRATE
24. Nebraska’s capital before Lincoln : OMAHA
26. Grandson of Adam : ENOS
27. Clock-setting std. : GMT
30. Big fat zero : NOTHING BURGER
34. Like Jefferson on a list of presidents : THIRD
35. River through Paris : SEINE
36. Do laps in a pool : SWIM
39. Flower that’s also a girl’s name : PANSY
42. Spoonful of medicine, say : DOSE
43. Put forward, as an idea : POSIT
45. Unlocks : OPENS
47. Habitual tube watchers : COUCH POTATOES
51. Swiss peak : ALP
52. Part in a movie : ROLE
53. Hair that hangs over the forehead : BANGS
56. Used a lever on : PRIED
58. “Golly!” : GEE!
60. Promise-to-pay note : IOU
61. Capital of South Korea : SEOUL
63. What a shamed person has to “eat” : HUMBLE PIE
66. Stand on three legs? : EASEL
67. Mideast native : ARAB
68. On the ___ (recuperating) : MEND
69. Lock of hair : TRESS
70. Metal canisters : TINS
71. Hankering : URGE
Down
1. Book consulted by a do-it-yourselfer : HOW-TO
2. Time in Manhattan when it’s midnight in Montana : TWO AM
3. Ethel who sang “There’s No Business Like Show Business” : MERMAN
4. It was often dropped in the ’60s : LSD
5. “See ya!” : CIAO!
6. Woodchuck’s escape route : HOLE
7. Airline app datum, for short : ETA
8. On the decline : FADING
9. Flying horse of Greek myth : PEGASUS
10. “Save me a ___!” : SEAT
11. Notes of a chord played in rapid succession : ARPEGGIO
12. Fib : LIE
13. Club ___ : MED
18. Path of mowed grass : SWATH
23. Steal from : ROB
25. It might capture an embarrassing comment : HOT MIC
26. Bit of appended text : ENDNOTE
28. Store department selling suits and ties : MEN’S
29. Obstacle for a drone : TREE
31. Modern and cool : HIP
32. Plan that might include mutual funds, in brief : IRA
33. Body of water that separates Africa and Asia : RED SEA
36. Pet safety org. : SPCA
37. Sheep’s coat : WOOL
38. “It’s certainly possible …” : I SUPPOSE …
40. Hot spring : SPA
41. “The best is ___ to come” : YET
44. What amusement parks provide : THRILLS
46. 2016 prize for Bob Dylan : NOBEL
48. Who wrote of “sorrow for the lost Lenore” : POE
49. Out-of-date : OLD HAT
50. Marksman with an M40 : SNIPER
54. Word cried twice before “gone” : GOING
55. Napped leather : SUEDE
57. Feels remorse over : RUES
58. F.B.I. worker, informally : G-MAN
59. Recedes : EBBS
61. Ready : SET
62. Place for a bud or a stud : EAR
64. Celebrity psychic Geller : URI
65. Down Under bird : EMU
ENOS – Mark Twain suggests another creation in a neighboring county – somewhere near Niagara Falls, it seems. Anyway, I guess we're all descended from ENOS, unless Cain found someone in another county. Maybe a Neanderthal.
I had votED before FRIED, and dAiSY before PANSY.
On a more serious topic – MIC – a spelling I can't stand!In order to have a long O, it must end in an E; and then it would have to have a K, not a C, or the C would be soft. What was wrong with "mike" for microphone? Boy, I'm getting old.
Quick solve. No delays anywhere although I'd never heard of ARPEGGIO before. I also didn't get the progression of the meal at first regarding the theme. I just noticed it was all food expressions.
HBO did a great dramatization of the battle over the Tonight Show between Jay Leno and David Letterman after Johnny Carson was stepping down. The theme song to that movie was Ethel MERMAN's There's no business like show business. I can see how that could bring a house down.
I'll never be able to say or hear the expression OLD HAT the same way anymore…
Best –
Relatively easy and quick, yet I still managed to log a time of 11:40. How anyone can do these as quickly as Bill is a mystery to me.
PANSY was the original name Margaret Mitchell chose for Scarlett O'Hara, but she rejected it since it was used to describe "an effeminate man."
Later!
7:03, no errors. Easy one (as befits a Monday). Completely missed the theme. Wish I could unread the origin of "old hat" (and I hope the story is apocryphal) …
Very nice Monday. NOTHINGBURGER is an amusing new one to me.
6:29, no errors. Not too far behind Bill. I came here expecting him to clock in at less than 5 mintutes!!
@Sfingi: MIC is more correct a spelling than MIKE. Obviously, it's the shortest form of microphone you can get. The other version is the one that's just plain wrong.
A few quibbles with this puzzle. I have NEVER heard of a girl named PANSY. The term, if not used to describe a flower, is a derogatory term used to describe an effeminate man. When I lived in San Francisco, there was a band there teasingly named, Pansy Division. That might've made for a better clue, evening out all the New York and Chicago-specific references we see all the time.
Also, NOTHING BURGER. A figment of someone's imagination. Never heard of it. I sure wish we could get the "corn" out of the puzzles: the GEES and the 1950s G-rated tripe….
I can only echo the comments already made. It's amazing how we mostly all think alike. I tend to agree with @Sfingi on the shortened spelling of "microphone". As I have heard the word used over the years, I have always mentally visualized it as "mike". Until recently, that is, when it started showing up as "mic".
7:13, no errors. Not aware of a theme until I came here, thanks again Bill. I am in the same boat as previous posters, who had not heard of a girl named PANSY. Iris, Lily, Rose, Daisy, yes. PANSY, no.
Here in western Washington, we have a local TV station, KING-5. Their mascot since the 1950's, possibly since the late 40's has been a microphone wearing a crown. The mascot was designed by Disney, and given the name 'King Mike'. And that is all I have to say about that……
13 minutes, zero errors.
@Carrie
I just don't write that quickly, and all my NYT solves are from news print. Not sure if I could do better, but it's pretty hard for me to both write on and see. Not to mention all the weirder stuff they throw in these makes me have to slow down and be sure I both do them right and don't tear up the paper in writing on the puzzle. Rare that these go as quick as others I've done.
I was wondering if anyone knows what happened to Dimepiece LA celebrity streetwear brand? I am unable to proceed to the checkout on Dimepiecela site. I have read in Marie Claire that the brand was bought out by a UK-based hedge fund in excess of $50 million. I’ve just bought the Dimepiece Fire & Desire Makeup Bag from Ebay and totally love it xox